Does evil exist?

Author Unknown

A striking clarity on good and evil. Like the professor in this story, we all believe rapes, murders, violence, etc are all evil. But does evil really exist? Read on….

At a certain college, there was an agnostic professor with a reputation for being tough on believers in God. At the first class every semester, he proceeded to degrade and make fun of their belief.

One semester, he asked the class if anyone believed in existence of God. 

One young man raised his hand

The professor asked "Did God make everything, young man?"

"Yes he did sir," the young man replied.

The professor responded, "If God made everything, then God made evil. We can only create from within ourselves, so God is evil."

The student didn't have a response and the professor was happy to have once again proved the faith to be a myth.

Then another man raised his hand and asked "May I ask you something, sir?"

"Yes you may," responded the professor.

The young man stood up and said, "Sir, is there such thing as cold?"

"Of course there is, what kind of a question is that? Haven't you ever been cold?" 

The young man replied, "Actually, sir, cold does not exist. What we consider to be cold, is really only the absence of heat. Absolute zero is when there is absolutely no heat, but cold does not really exist. We have only created that term to describe how we feel when heat is not there."

The young man continued, "Sir, is there such thing as dark?"

Once again, professor responded, "Of course there is."

And once again, the student replied, "Actually sir, darkness does not exist. Darkness is really only the absence of light. Darkness is only a term man developed to describe what happens when there is no light present."

Finally, the young man asked, "Sir, is there such thing as evil?"

The professor responded, "Of course, we have rapes, and murders and violence everywhere in the world, those things are evil."

The student replied, "Actually, sir, evil is not a substance but an altered version of the good substance that God made. Evil is like rust to a car or rot to a tree. It is a lack in good things, but it is not a thing in itself. It exists only in another but not in itself. God did not create evil. It isn't like truth, or love, which exist as virtues like heat and light. Evil is simply the state where Good is not present, like cold without heat or darkness without light."

The professor had nothing to say.