Joined: 31 Mar 2005 Posts: 435 Location: chennai, India
The professor of a university challenged his students with
this question. "Did God create everything that exists?" A student
answered bravely, "Yes, he did".
The professor then asked, "If God created everything, then he created
evil. Since evil exists (as noticed by our own actions), so God is evil.
The student couldn't respond to that statement causing the professor to
conclude that he had "proved" that "belief in God" was a fairy tale, and
therefore worthless.
Another student raised his hand and asked the professor, "May I pose a
question? " "Of course" answered the professor.
The young student stood up and asked : "Professor does Cold exists?"
The professor answered, "What kind of question is that?...Of course the
cold exists... haven't you ever been cold?"
The young ! student answered, "In fact sir, Cold does not exist. According
to the laws of Physics, what we consider cold, in fact is the absence of
heat. Anything is able to be studied as long as it transmits energy
(heat). Absolute Zero is the total absence of heat, but cold does not
exist. What we have done is create a term to describe how we feel if we
don't have body heat or we are not hot."
"And, does Dark exist?", he continued. The professor answered "Of course". This time the student responded, "Again
you're wrong,Sir. Darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in fact simply the absence of light.Light can be studied, darkness can not. Darkness cannot be broken down. A simple ray of light tears the
darkness and illuminates the surface where the light beam finishes. Dark is a term that we humans
have created to describe what happens when there's lack of light."
Finally, the student asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?" The profes! sor replied, "Of course it exists, as I
mentioned at the beginning, we see violations, crimes and violence anywhere in the world, and those things are evil."
The student responded, "Sir, Evil does not exist. Just as in the previous cases, Evil is a term which man has created
to describe the result of the absence of God's presence in the hearts of man.
After this, the professor bowed down his head, and didn't answer back.
Just to add some balance , this just might be another 'urban myth'
There is no evidence that this exchange ever took place.
This eRumor has circulated without Einstein's name and someone added it to a version that started circulating in the summer of 2004.
Also, it is not likely that young Einstein would have presented this argument.
In his Autobiographical Notes, he states that even though his Jewish family was not religious, he developed a "deep religiosity" as Jewish child that came to an end when he was 12.
He says he developed a skeptical attitude that never left him.
He made reference to "God" on many occasions but also said he did not believe some of the stories in the Bible and did not believe in a personal God.
It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it.
-- Albert Einstein, 1954, from Albert Einstein: The Human Side, edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press
Scientific research is based on the idea that everything that takes place is determined by laws of nature, and therefore this holds for the action of people. For this reason, a research scientist will hardly be inclined to believe that events could be influenced by a prayer, i.e. by a wish addressed to a Supernatural Being.
-- Albert Einstein, 1936, responding to a child who wrote and asked if scientists pray. Source: Albert Einstein: The Human Side, Edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffmann
A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.
-- Albert Einstein, "Religion and Science", New York Times Magazine, 9 November 1930
I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the kind that we experience in ourselves. Neither can I nor would I want to conceive of an individual that survives his physical death; let feeble souls, from fear or absurd egoism, cherish such thoughts. I am satisfied with the mystery of the eternity of life and with the awareness and a glimpse of the marvelous structure of the existing world, together with the devoted striving to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the Reason that manifests itself in nature.
-- Albert Einstein, The World as I See It
I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotisms.
-- Albert Einstein, obituary in New York Times, 19 April 1955
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