The Professor of Philosophy challenged his students with this question:

The Professor of Philosophy challenged his students with this question:

"Did God create everything that exists?"

A student bravely replied, "Yes."

"Are you certain that he created EVERYTHING?" The professor continued.

"Yes Professor", the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil -
since evil exists. Therefore, according to the principal that one's works define who one IS,
then God is... or has the capacity to be... Evil".

The student became quiet. Thoughtful.
The professor smiled, pleased with himself that he had (once again) proven that belief in a loving God was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, "May I ask a question, professor?"

"Proceed", replied the professor - eager to press his easy victory.

"Professor, does cold exist?"

"Have you never been cold?" asked the Professor. "Cold most certainly exists."
A few students snickered at the question.

The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does NOT exist. According to the laws of physics,
what we consider "cold" is, in reality, the absence of heat. Every entity or object can be studied
when it has or transmits energy, and HEAT is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy.
Absolute zero (-460° F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at
that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat."

The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"

The professor paused, then responded, "Darkness? Of course. Yes, it exists."

The student replied, "Sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is the absence of light.
We can study light, but not darkness. In fact, we can use Newton's prism to break white light
into many colors and study the wavelengths of each color. But we cannot measure darkness.
One single ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it.
How can we know how dark a certain space is? We measure the amount of light present.
We cannot measure the "amount of darkness". Darkness is the term used to describe what
happens when there is no light present."

The young man went on, "And sir, evil does not exist."

Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course evil exists. We see it every day.
It is the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is the crime and violence everywhere in the world.
These manifestations are proof that there is evil."

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir. At least it does not exist as an object itself.
Evil is the absence of God. It is, like "darkness" and "cold", a word that man created
to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love --
they exist - just as "light" and "heat" exist. Evil is what we call what happens when man does not have
God's love present in his heart. It is like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness
that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

The young student was Albert Einstein.

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Might have been posted before, but a good read nonetheless. Makes you think, at least.

That's one of my favorite modern-day parables.

BTW, the name, Albert Einstein, is just inserted as the stereotypical "smart student" in the story. He never actually said that.

very good little story.

yeah I heard that one a couple years ago.. I really like it.. reminded me about the student that described hell as exothermic based on his theory of the rate of souls entering and such but that one is funny.. this one is just deep.. thanks for posting it.

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Originally posted by flashpenguin
... reminded me about the student that described hell as exothermic based on his theory of the rate of souls entering and such . ..

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Can you post it ?

Dr. Schambaugh, of the University of Oklahoma School of Chemical Engineering, Final Exam question for May of 1997. Dr. Schambaugh is known for asking questions such as, "why do airplanes fly?" on his final exams. His one and only final exam question in May 1997 for his Momentum, Heat and Mass Transfer II class was: "Is hell exothermic or endothermic? Support your answer with proof."

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:

"First, We postulate that if souls exist, then they must have some mass. If they do, then a mole of souls can also have a mass. So, at what rate are souls moving into hell and at what rate are souls leaving? I think we can safely assume that once a soul gets to hell, it will not leave.

Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for souls entering hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, then you will go to hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all people and souls go to hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in hell to increase exponentially.

Now, we look at the rate of change in volume in hell. Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in hell to stay the same, the ratio of the mass of souls and volume needs to stay constant. Two options exist:

1. If hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter hell, then the temperature and pressure in hell will increase until all hell breaks loose.
2. If hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until hell freezes over.

So which is it? If we accept the quote given to me by Theresa Manyan during Freshman year, "that it will be a cold night in hell before I sleep with you" and take into account the fact that I still have NOT succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then Option 2 cannot be true...Thus, hell is exothermic."

The student, Tim Graham, got the only A.

evil is only the absence of god if you believe in god. and devout believers in god have done many evil things.

I therefor conclude that I am smarter than Einstein. AND I don't have autism.

Did Einstein really say that? I find that very hard to believe.

Everything I've read about Einstein and all of his quotes related to God and a higher power don't follow the traditional viewpoint.

He makes his viewpoint clear, although he never said he didn't believe in "God", He said if there was a God, it was probably more like a force of energy, which most definitley couldn't be personified in the manner which most religions portray their gods. Einstein's concept of God didn't have "morals" and certainly couldn't be revealed through "his love in our hearts".


It's a nice story I guess, but I don't belive Einstein said it, unless anyone can prove to me otherwise. Maybe this was when he was younger and he changed his viewpoint? In any case, the logic falls apart at the end, as Swampy reveals in his post.

The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax. -- Albert Einstein

does that theory make all atheists evil?

This is nice. It reminds me of a theory I somewhere read that "We do not live in the present. We only live in the past and think of doing anything in the future, as, whatever we do now becomes the past, and whatever we are thinking of doing is the future, hence there is no 'present'"

:)

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Originally posted by alty29
The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax. -- Albert Einstein

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LOL.......especialy when you have to pay provisional tax.

Tony

no words...just thought and code...please forgive me.

http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen2/full22.html

thanks naked.. that panorama is just awsome.. definately gettin bookmarked.. How does it work? I right clicked and it said it was powered by quicktime:confused:

Really cool

i could tell you how it was shown to you on the web...that would not explain the why...

anyway... (virus = very yes)
you seem extremely intelligent, so why is it ...virulence is your avitar?

There was never a time where there was nothing. If there would have been a time where there nothing existed, not even basic physical laws, then it's impossible that something could ever develop from that nothing, so it would be nothing for all time, not that that would be of interest as time would not exist as well. But as you see around us, there are physical laws and things, so it's impossible that there was a time where nothing existed and therefore it's impossible that god created everything, it's impossible that there was nothing before god created the world. - Fredi Bach aka Subway

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Originally posted by Subway
so it's impossible that there was a time where nothing existed and therefore it's impossible that god created everything, it's impossible that there was nothing before god created the world. - Fredi Bach aka Subway

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Ver true Fredi, very true, God has always been there, no beginning and no end, God did not (cannot have) created himself.

(Yes there are concepts out there that we cannot understand, why shouldn't there be?)

Tony

no! no! i cried , i do not want to go to the nothing.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Naked inc.
no! no! i cried , i do not want to go to the nothing.

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You dont have to, we make our choices in life, the future is in our own hands.

Tony

Quote:

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Originally posted by Naked inc.
no! no! i cried , i do not want to go to the nothing.

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You can't be in a nothing, there are always laws where you are and as quantum mechanics has proven, everything is connected to everything else in some way, so there's always a way back, you simple can't be lost in nothing, it's impossible, a real nothing can't exists, it's just in your head. Religious people would say: "You just have to call god and he will save you". People like me would tell you: "You just have to accept that there is something else and you will find it someday".

Fredi