This conversation refutes the views of those who believe that God created evil and who deny His goodness and righteousness on this premise.
A university professor asked his students,
“Do you all agree that God created all things under the sun?”
One student replied with confidence:
“Yes. All things are creations of God.”
“So God created everything?” repeated the professor.
“Yes, sir!” confirmed the student.
The professor continued.
“So God created all existing things, including evil, since it exists, too. Our actions define our nature, and so because God is the creator of evil, He must be evil, too.”
The students went silent, not knowing how to respond. The professor was jubilant. He had just shown to his students, again, that God was only a myth. Suddenly, one of the students raised his hand and said,
“Professor, may I ask you a question? Does cold exist?”
“Certainly. What a silly question! Have not you ever felt cold?”
The other students chuckled, but the young man continued.
“In truth, sir, there is no such thing as cold. A physicist will tell you that what we sense as cold is simply the absence of heat. We can measure the amount of heat in a person or an object, and the energy that they emit. Absolute zero (minus 460 degrees Fahrenheit) is the absolute absence of heat. Matter at this temperature becomes inert and unresponsive. Cold does not exist. People created this notion to describe our sensation of the absence of heat!”
“Now may I ask you if darkness exists, professor?” continued the student.
“Of course, it does.”
“Again, you are mistaken, sir. Darkness does not exist, either. It is nothing else than the absence of light. We can study light, but not darkness. We can decompose white light into multiple colours with a prism, and measure the wavelengths corresponding to each colour. But one cannot measure darkness. A ray of light will dispel any darkness. How can you measure the darkness of a space? Is it by measuring the amount of light in it, professor? Darkness is a notion we created to describe what happens when there is no light.”
Finally, the young man asked the professor his last question.
“Sir, does evil exist?”
This time, the professor answered more hesitantly.
“As I have said before, it must exist. We see it every day – people mistreating each other, crimes, and violence across the world. All of these are manifestations of evil.
The student responded,
“No, sir, evil does not exist – at least not in and of itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. Just like darkness and cold, it is a notion created by man to refer to the absence of God. God did not create any evil. Evil does not manifest itself like faith, love, light or heat. Evil is the absence in one’s heart of the Love of God. It is like the cold that occurs in the absence of heat, or darkness in the absence of light.”
The professor was humbled.
Translated by The Catalogue of Good Deeds
Source: https://spzh.news/ru/istorija-i-kulytrua/81866-pritcha-chto-takoje-zlo-razgovor-professora-i-studenta
