"Let me explain the problem science has with Jesus Christ..."

The atheist professor of philosophy paused before his class and then asked one of his new students to stand. "You're a Christian, aren't you, son?"

"Yes, sir," the young man answered.

"So you believe in God?"

"Absolutely."

"Is God good?"

"Sure? God is good," he said, nervously.

"Is God all powerful? Can God do anything?" the teacher continued.

"Of course He is, He is God."

"Are you good or evil?"

"The Bible says I'm evil" he shuffled.

The professor grinned knowingly. "Ahh! THE BIBLE!" He contemplated for a moment and began again, "Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help them? Would you try?"

"Yes sir, I would."

"So you're good, not evil!"

"I wouldn't say that," the student objected.

"Why not say that? You would help a sick and maimed person if you could... in fact most of us would if we could...but God doesn't." (No answer from the young student). "He doesn't does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmmm? Can you answer that one please?" (Still no answer.)

The elderly man sympathetically answers his own question as he takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax "No, you can't, can you?"

The professor continued his well conceived discourse, "In philosophy, you have to go easy with the new ones. So, let's start again, young fella. Is God good?" By now, the young man was shamefully on the defensive,

"Err... Yes."

"Is Satan good?"

"No!" He protested.

"Where does Satan come from?"

The student falters. "Uhh, from... God..."

"That's right. God made Satan, didn't he?" The elderly man proceeded. Running his bony fingers through his thinning hair, he turned to the rest of the smirking student audience. "I think we're going to have a good semester, ladies and gentlemen." He turned back to the Christian. "Tell me son. Is there any evil in this world?"

"Yes, sir."

"Evil's everywhere, isn't it? Did God make everything?" Reluctantly the student responded, "Yes."

"Who created evil?" (No answer) "Is there sickness in this world? Ugliness, immorality, hatred? All the terrible things - do they exist in this world?"

"Yes." the student squirmed.

"Who created them?" (No answer.) The professor suddenly shouted at the student. "WHO CREATED THEM? TELL ME, PLEASE!" The professor closing in for the kill, climbs into the young Christian's face. In a still small voice: "God created them, didn't he?" (Again, No answer.)

The student tried to hold his steady experienced gaze, but failed. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace the front of the classroom like an aging panther. The class is now mesmerized. "Tell me," he continued, "how is it that this God is good if He created all evil throughout all time?" To dramatize his point, the professor, sweeps his arms around to encompass the wickedness of the world. He presses more forcefully, "All the hatred, the brutality, all the pain, all the torture, all the death and ugliness and suffering created by this good God is all over the world, isn't it, young man?" (No answer.)

"Don't you see it all over the place? Huh?" There's a pause.

"Don't you?" The professor leans into the students face again and whispers, "Is God good?" Defeated, the student has no answer. "Do you believe in Jesus Christ, young man?" The student's voice betrays him and cracks. "Yes, Professor, I do."

Almost in disgust, the old man shakes his head. "Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you seen Jesus?"

"No, sir, I've never seen Him."

"Then tell us, have you ever heard your Jesus?"

"No, sir, I have not."

"Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus... in fact, do you have any sensory perception of your God whatsoever?" (Silence) "Answer me, please!"

"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."

"You're AFRAID you haven't?"

"No, sir."

"Yet you still believe in Him?"

"Yes"

"Now that takes FAITH!" The professor smiles sagely at the underling as he begins his final summation. "According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God does not exist. What do you say to that, son? Where is your God now?"

The student has no answer.

"Sit down, please." The Christian sat down... defeated, ashamed and humiliated.

Within just a few moments, another student raised his hand.

"Professor, may I address the class?"

Proud of his effective rendering of his logical and scientific discertation, the professor turned and smiled. "Ah, another Christian in the vanguard! Come, come, young man. Speak some proper wisdom to the gathering."

This second Christian looked around the room to speak to the whole group. "Some interesting points you are making, sir. Now I've got a few questions for you. Is there such a thing as heat?"

"Yes," the professor replied, "there's heat."

"Is there such a thing as cold?"

"Yes, son, there's cold too."

"No, sir, there isn't," he objected

The professor's grin instantly froze as the room suddenly went very quiet. The second Christian continues. "You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, white heat, a little heat, or no heat, but we don't have another thing called 'cold.' We can hit 485 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we cannot go any further than that. There is no such thing as cold, otherwise we would be able to go colder than negative 485‹ you see, sir, cold, is only a word we use to describe the total absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. But cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, it's just the absence of it."

Silence. A pin drops somewhere in the classroom, then the student continued, "Is there such a thing as darkness, professor?"

"That's a dumb question, son. What is night if it isn't darkness? What are you getting at?"

"So you 'believe' there is darkness?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry, but science says you're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness, isn't it? That's the word we use to define the meaning of nothingness. In reality, darkness isn't anything. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker and place it in a jar. But you can't give me a jar of darker darkness, can you Professor?"

Despite himself the professor smiles at the youth's affrontery before him and thinks to himself, 'this would indeed be a good semester.' "Would you mind telling us what your point is, young man?"

"Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed at the very start, and so your conclusion must also be in error..."

Hearing this the professor goes toxic. "Flawed? How dare you!"

"Sir, may I explain what I mean?" Now the class began to rumble as they waited in anticipation of the students next words.

"Explain... oh, explain." The professor made an admirable but fialing effort to regain control... Suddenly he is affability itself as he waved his hand to silence the class, for the student to continue.

"You are working on the premise of duality," the Christian explains, "that, for example, there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad god. You are viewing God as a concept, as something finite... something we can measure. Sir, science cannot even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood them. To view death, as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a stative thing. Death is not the opposite of life, merely the absence of it."

The young man held up a newspaper from the desk of a neighbour, who has been reading it. "Here is one of the most disgusting tabloids this country hosts, Professor. Is there such a thing as immorality?"

"Of course, there is, now look..." the professor protested. Politely interupting the professor, the student raised his finger into the air and continued, "Again, I'm sorry sir, but you are wrong. You see, immorality is merely the absence of morality. Is there such a thing as injustice? No, injustice is the absence of justice. Is there such a thing as evil?" The Christian paused. "Isn't evil the absence of good?"

Now the professor's face has turned an alarming shade of red. He is so angry, he is temporarily speechless.But the young Christian continued. "If there is evil in the world, Professor, and we all agree there is, then God, if He exists, must be accomplishing a work through the agency of evil. What is that work God is accomplishing?"

"The Bible tells us that it is to see if each one of us will, of our own free will, choose good (the result of the love of God) over evil (the result of independence or the absence of the love of God). There is nothing greater than love. God is love and God is good. If He is good, than the innate act of His goodness would be to give man the opportunity to experience the greatest thing that exists‹love. But love cannot be forced on someone or it is not love. There must be a choice involved. God loved us enough to allow us to make the choice. Evil is the result of the choice of independence from God."

The professor bridled. "As a philosophical scientist, I don't view this matter as having anything to do with choice; as a realist, I absolutely do not recognise the concept of God or any other theological factor as being part of the world equation because God is not observable."

"But sir, I would have thought that the absence of God's moral code in this world is probably one of the most observable phenomena going," the Christian replied. "Newspapers make billions of dollars reporting it every week. Tell me, Professor, do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?"

"If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process young man, yes, of course I do."

"Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir, or are you placing your 'faith' in the unobservable?" The professor made a sucking noise with his teeth and gave the student a silent, stony stare. "Professor, since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an ongoing endeavour, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a priest?"

"I'll overlook your impudence in the light of our philosophical discussion. Now have you quite finished?" the professor hissed.

Maintaining his polite demeanor, he student replied: "May I follow up on the point you were making earlier to the other student?"

The professor wisely remained silent.

"I believe you have a great mind Professor, but with all due respect let me ask the class a question regarding it. Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's mind... felt the professor's mind, touched or smelled the professor's mind?" The class traded glances with quiet grins.

"No one appears to have done so. No one here has had any sensory perception of the professor's mind whatsoever. While I would not dare to imply it myself... wouldn't the limitations of what you 'believe in' (the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science) say that you have no mind? And wouldn't the same apply to your emotions and your will? I believe your great mind is hidden within your brain although I cannot observe it within the small box, or within the limited parameters with which you wish to place God".

If I want to know your mind, that is, if I want to know the real you (your mind, emotions, will and even your spirit), all I have to do, if you are willing to be known, is be willing to seek to know you and to spend time with you. You can know that God exists... if you are willing... Are you willing, Professor?"

(Silence.)

In the midst of the quiet, the bell rang.

"Class dismissed," announced the professor. "Time is up!"

Testimonies

At this time we have not decided if we are going to make any announcement about who has testimonies on-line.

However, please take this link to one that has been on-line for a couple of years.