Light vs Darkness

A university professor challenged his class: “Did God create everything?”

A student replied, “Yes.” The professor continued: “If God created everything, then He created evil too. And since our works define who we are, then God is evil.”

The class became silent. Suddenly another student raised his hand and asked, “Professor, does darkness exist?” The professor responded, “Yes.” The student replied, “No, sir, darkness does not exist. Darkness is just the absence of light. Light, we can study, but not darkness.

In fact we can use Newton’s prism to break the white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. But you cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is?

You measure the amount of light present. Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present.”

Then the young man asked, “Sir, does evil exist?” Now uncertain, the professor responded, “Of course.”

To this the student replied, “No, evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. It is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness, a word that man has created to describe the absence of light. God did not create evil. It is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart. Evil is like the cold that comes when there is no heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light.”

The professor sat down.

The young man’s name was Albert Einstein.