One day a professor of a university decided to defy his pupils. He asked: Did God create everything that exists.

 

A student answered bravely, "Yes, he did."

 

Everything the professor inquired.

 

Yes, everything the student replied.

 

In this case, did God also create evil. Because evil exists.

 

The student had no answer and remained silent. The teacher was delighted at the opportunity to prove once more that faith was only a myth.

 

Suddenly another student raised his hand and asked if he could ask a question.

 

The professor said of course.

 

The student inquired, Does cold exist?

 

The professor replied Of course.

 

The student said "Actually cold does nto exist. According to studies in physics, cold is the total and complete absence of heat."

 

He continued, "An object can only be studied if it has and transmits energy and it is the heat of an object that transmits it's energy. Without heat the objects are inert, incapable to react."

 

Cold does not exist. We created the term cold to explain the lack of heat."

 

And darkness does it exist, the student asked.

 

Of course, the professor answered.

 

Again you are wrong he told the professor.

 

Darkness is the total absence of light. You can study light and brightness but not darkness.

 

The student continued, God did not create evil. Evil is the absence of God in people's hearts. The absence of love, humanity and faith.

 

Love and faith are like heat and light. They exist. Their absence leads to evil.

 

Now it was the professor's turn to remain quiet.

 

The student's name was Albert Einstein.

 

 

 

 

I am not sure that this story is 100% accurate but it is 100% accurate in what happens when the love of God and the faith in God is absent in our heart what happens.

It is a hoax; here's an interesting article on it.

It is a hoax; here's an interesting article on it.

From your link,

 

Although 2004 tellings of the legend name Albert Einstein as the faith-driven student, there is no reason to suppose the renowned physicist had anything to do with the fictive incident. Biographies of the man are silent on his having dealt one of his teachers such a comeuppance.

 

As I said in my original post, not sure it is accurate but the place that says it was a hoax, simply puts it as a hoax because the biographies do not mention it.

Whether its true or not is irrelevant, but given what I understand of Einstein, it sounds a lot like him.

 

Raffiniert ist der Herr Gott; Aber boschaft ist Er nicht.

"God is subtle; but He is not malicious."

 

And I agree with you bballcoach... I always liked this one too:

 

"Without a life of the spirit, our entire existence becomes unsubstantial and illusory."

-Thomas Merton

From your link,

 

Although 2004 tellings of the legend name Albert Einstein as the faith-driven student, there is no reason to suppose the renowned physicist had anything to do with the fictive incident. Biographies of the man are silent on his having dealt one of his teachers such a comeuppance.

 

As I said in my original post, not sure it is accurate but the place that says it was a hoax, simply puts it as a hoax because the biographies do not mention it.

For one thing, it's just a variation of stories that have floated around for sometime, only it suddenly cites Einstein as an appeal to authority.

 

If it's not in his biographies, at this point it is HIGHLY unlikely that there was a classmate that suddenly remembered the story in 2004 and sent it out in an email.

For one thing, it's just a variation of stories that have floated around for sometime, only it suddenly cites Einstein as an appeal to authority.

 

If it's not in his biographies, at this point it is HIGHLY unlikely that there was a classmate that suddenly remembered the story in 2004 and sent it out in an email.

How many of Thomas Jefferson's biographies included him fathering children with his slaves?

 

I can easily see this being one of the email/chain letter creations but also could see it being based in some sort of fact. Not word for word but a general idea of the discussion.

In All The King's Men, (the book, not the movie) one of the characters postulates the the proof of God's greatness is evil, since God created something totally foreign to his own nature. Likewise, man is measured by the good he does, since good is foreign to his nature. I don't know that I buy into the theology, but I did find it interesting enough to remember it almost forty years later.

How many of Thomas Jefferson's biographies included him fathering children with his slaves?

 

I can easily see this being one of the email/chain letter creations but also could see it being based in some sort of fact. Not word for word but a general idea of the discussion.

I think you're getting caught up in what is almost certainly an apocryphal accreditation.

 

Here's another site dealing with this floating letter.

This eRumor has circulated without Einstein's name and someone added it to a version that started circulating in the summer of 2004.

Einstein himself wrote that his deep religiosity ended in his childhood. Although he made more than a few witty remarks later in life that mention God ("God does not play dice" is my favorite) he does not reference a 'God of Men's hearts.'

 

The quote that Getslow provided earlier has a second part:

 

"God is subtle but He is not malicious... Nature hides her secret because of her essential loftiness, but not by means of ruse."

 

Doesn't really sound like something you'd hear in the Sunday morning sermon, does it? Einstein exhibited a Deism, but not a religiosity.

I doubt the validity of this exchange taking place between Einstein and a professor. However, I agree with the points made by the supposed Einstein in the story. So, whether this exchange actually took place is irrelevant to me...I can view it kind of like a parable that someone came up with. I think the argument made in it is valid and true.

I doubt the validity of this exchange taking place between Einstein and a professor. However, I agree with the points made by the supposed Einstein in the story. So, whether this exchange actually took place is irrelevant to me...I can view it kind of like a parable that someone came up with. I think the argument made in it is valid and true.

 

I'm not so sure about that. It merits more contemplation, but to give validity to the parable would be to presume that "evil" was "a word we made up" to explain the absence of God, just like "cold" is a "word we made up" to explain the absence of heat. That's a bit too Hobbesian for me. I think "evil" is real and tangible, and this line of thinking dangerously discounts it. And yet, I am a believer.

 

I prefer the "conundrum," as 02Ram's article puts it. The writer of 02Ram's article calls it a "conundrum" for believers because we are unable to prove God's existence by tangible "proof," and therefore give weight to the naysayers argument that God does not exist. Its not a "conundrum" for me, because the ultimate retort for those who require "proof" (the basis of logic) is "prove that He does not exist." Logical atheists must concede that the laws of logic require both the positive and a negative - an item must be proven or disproven. Just because an item can't be proved does not mean that it is disproved, and they know that.

 

Since atheists cannot disprove the existence of God without resort to assumptions, I am quite comfortable in my faith and my "conundrum."

Wasn't Einstein a high school drop out?

I'm not so sure about that. It merits more contemplation, but to give validity to the parable would be to presume that "evil" was "a word we made up" to explain the absence of God, just like "cold" is a "word we made up" to explain the absence of heat. That's a bit too Hobbesian for me. I think "evil" is real and tangible, and this line of thinking dangerously discounts it. And yet, I am a believer.

 

I prefer the "conundrum," as 02Ram's article puts it. The writer of 02Ram's article calls it a "conundrum" for believers because we are unable to prove God's existence by tangible "proof," and therefore give weight to the naysayers argument that God does not exist. Its not a "conundrum" for me, because the ultimate retort for those who require "proof" (the basis of logic) is "prove that He does not exist." Logical atheists must concede that the laws of logic require both the positive and a negative - an item must be proven or disproven. Just because an item can't be proved does not mean that it is disproved, and they know that.

 

Since atheists cannot disprove the existence of God without resort to assumptions, I am quite comfortable in my faith and my "conundrum."

 

You're right. I shouldn't have stated it quite the way I did, saying it was valid and true. I should restate that there is some good discussion to be had from this, but I would have to agree with you in the thought that evil is real. Evil, to me, is anything that is against God's will...which is the same thing as sin. So, I suppose, evil and sin are one and the same...would you agree?

Wasn't Einstein a high school drop out?

 

No. However, his senior report card showed what some later thought were terrible grades. The school, for some reason, reversed the marks - the equilivant of us now deciding that our top mark will be an "F" and our lowest mark an "A".

Whether this actually came from Einstein or not it is still interesting and provides a great way to think about faith.

 

Yesterday I was listening to Dennis Praeger on the radio. He is a devout Jew and speaks about his personal faith quite often. The theme of his program while I was listening was What one question would you ask God if you were able? A caller said she would ask why God lets good people get sick and die, why can't good people always be healed by prayer. His answer was quite profound. He said that he believed that if God healed everyone who sincerely asked him to there would be no need for faith. Anyone could just ask and it would be done, we would KNOW that God existed. IMHO a very big part of faith is knowing that you will never truly know God until death. Can I prove beyond a shadow of doubt that God exists, no I can't nor can anyone else, BUT I believe with all my heart that God does exist.