St Edburg's Church - Bicester

With Remembrance Day just a few days behind us there is often thoughts surrounding the evil of wars - wars in the past and in the present.  I know first hand the horrors of war, the pain and suffering they bring about.  Recently I came across the following which I found very interesting:

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Why did God create evil? 

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A professor at the university asked his students the following question:

- Everything that exists was created by God?

One student bravely answered:

- Yes, created by God.

- Did God create everything? - a professor asked.

“Yes, sir,” replied the student.

The professor asked :

- If God created everything, then God created evil, since it exists. And according to the principle that our deeds define ourselves, then God is evil.

The student became silent after hearing such an answer. The professor was very pleased with himself. He boasted to students for proving once again that faith in God is a myth.

 

Another student raised his hand and said:

- Can I ask you a question, professor?

"Of course," replied the professor.

A student got up and asked:

- Professor, is cold a thing?

- What kind of question? Of course it exists. Have you ever been cold?

Students laughed at the young man's question. The young man answered:

- Actually, sir, cold doesn't exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is actually the absence of heat. A person or object can be studied on whether it has or transmits energy.

Absolute zero (-460 degrees Fahrenheit) is a complete absence of heat. All matter becomes inert and unable to react at this temperature. Cold does not exist. We created this word to describe what we feel in the absence of heat.

A student continued:

- Professor, does darkness exist?

— Of course it exists.

- You're wrong again, sir. Darkness also does not exist. Darkness is actually the absence of light. We can study the light but not the darkness. We can use Newton's prism to spread white light across multiple colors and explore the different wavelengths of each color. You can't measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into the world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you tell how dark a certain space is? You measure how much light is presented. Isn't it so? Darkness is a term man uses to describe what happens in the absence of light.

 

In the end, the young man asked the professor:

- Sir, does evil exist?

This time it was uncertain, the professor answered:

- Of course, as I said before. We see him every day. Cruelty, numerous crimes and violence throughout the world. These examples are nothing but a manifestation of evil.

To this, the student answered:

- Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist for itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is like darkness and cold—a man-made word to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not faith or love, which exist as light and warmth. Evil is the result of the absence of Divine love in the human heart. It’s the kind of cold that comes when there is no heat, or the kind of darkness that comes when there’s no light.

 

The student's name was Albert Einstein.

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ian Cribbes