Did God create Evil?
This has been going around the web and I think it is worth passing along (I am translating it from Hebrew):
It is very possible this story is not exact, but the logical element in it is very interesting.
A professor in a University presented the following question to his students: "Is all that exists, created by God?"
One of his students answered bravely: "Yes! Everything is created by God."
"Everything?" the professor asked
"Yes Sir" Answered the student.
The professor asked: "If God created everything, it must mean he created Evil as well - since Evil exists. According to the theory that our acts define us, God must be Evil."
The Student heard the answer and fell silent.
The professor, pleased with himself, started bragging to his students about how he once again proved that the faith in God is nothing but a myth.
Another student raised his hand and said: "May I present a question?"
"Of course you can", answered the professor.
The student got up and asked: "Does cold exist?"
"What sort of question is that? Have you never been cold?" The other students in the class started laughing at the question that the young man presented.
The young man continued, "Actually, Sir, cold does not exist. According the laws of physics, what we consider as cold is actually the absence of heat. You can study a person or an object by the fact that they pass energy through them. Absolute zero (-459 degrees Fahrenheit) is total absence of heat. Any matter at that temperature becomes inactive and is unable to respond. Cold does not exist. We created the word to define how we feel in absence of heat."
The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"
The Professor answered, "Of course it does."
The student answered, "Sir, you are incorrect again. Darkness does not exist. Darkness is actually the absence of light. We can study the light but not the dark. We can use Newton's prism to break the white light into many colors, and we can study the wave-length of each color. We cannot measure darkness. One simple ray of light can penetrate the darkness and brighten it up. How do you know how dark a space is? You measure the amount of light that exists. Darkness is the term that man uses to define the absence of light."
Finally, the young man asked the Professor, "Sir does evil exist?"
This time, the Professor answered hesitantly, "Of course. As I already said, we see it everyday. Cruelty between people, crimes, and rapes all over the world. These things are nothing but examples of evil."
To this, the student answered, "Evil does not exist, Sir. Or, at least, does not exist by itself. Evil is the absence of God. It is like darkness and cold, a word that was created by people to define the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith and love that exists like light and heat. Evil is the result of absence of Godly love in the heart of a person. It is like the cold that arrives when there is no heat, or the darkness that appears when there is no light."
The Professor sat down silent.
The name of the young student was...Albert Einstein.
It is very possible this story is not exact, but the logical element in it is very interesting.
A professor in a University presented the following question to his students: "Is all that exists, created by God?"
One of his students answered bravely: "Yes! Everything is created by God."
"Everything?" the professor asked
"Yes Sir" Answered the student.
The professor asked: "If God created everything, it must mean he created Evil as well - since Evil exists. According to the theory that our acts define us, God must be Evil."
The Student heard the answer and fell silent.
The professor, pleased with himself, started bragging to his students about how he once again proved that the faith in God is nothing but a myth.
Another student raised his hand and said: "May I present a question?"
"Of course you can", answered the professor.
The student got up and asked: "Does cold exist?"
"What sort of question is that? Have you never been cold?" The other students in the class started laughing at the question that the young man presented.
The young man continued, "Actually, Sir, cold does not exist. According the laws of physics, what we consider as cold is actually the absence of heat. You can study a person or an object by the fact that they pass energy through them. Absolute zero (-459 degrees Fahrenheit) is total absence of heat. Any matter at that temperature becomes inactive and is unable to respond. Cold does not exist. We created the word to define how we feel in absence of heat."
The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"
The Professor answered, "Of course it does."
The student answered, "Sir, you are incorrect again. Darkness does not exist. Darkness is actually the absence of light. We can study the light but not the dark. We can use Newton's prism to break the white light into many colors, and we can study the wave-length of each color. We cannot measure darkness. One simple ray of light can penetrate the darkness and brighten it up. How do you know how dark a space is? You measure the amount of light that exists. Darkness is the term that man uses to define the absence of light."
Finally, the young man asked the Professor, "Sir does evil exist?"
This time, the Professor answered hesitantly, "Of course. As I already said, we see it everyday. Cruelty between people, crimes, and rapes all over the world. These things are nothing but examples of evil."
To this, the student answered, "Evil does not exist, Sir. Or, at least, does not exist by itself. Evil is the absence of God. It is like darkness and cold, a word that was created by people to define the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith and love that exists like light and heat. Evil is the result of absence of Godly love in the heart of a person. It is like the cold that arrives when there is no heat, or the darkness that appears when there is no light."
The Professor sat down silent.
The name of the young student was...Albert Einstein.
posted by Oleh Yahshan @ 5/11/2005 10:55:00 PM
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1 Comments:
I can understand saying that darkness and cold do not exist, but to say evil is an absence of God is saying that God is not everywhere. No one has an absence of Gods love in them, they just choose to ignore that love.
As i understand it, God created energy to be used for good, but every power that has good potential has as equal evil potential. Fire, for instance, or a knife. All incredibly useful, but equally dangerous. The Torah itself can be used as an aid or a weapon. Its our decision to take that power and use it as we wish.
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