Faith
There was a professor of philosophy at USC who was a deeply
committed atheist. His primary goal for one required class was to
spend the entire semester attempting to prove that God couldn't exist.
His students were always afraid to argue with him because of his
impeccable logic. For twenty years, he had taught this class and no one
had ever had the courage to stand up to him. Sure, some had argued in
class at times, but no one had ever really stood up to him. Nobody would
go against him because he had a reputation. At the end of every
semester, on the last day, he would say to his class of 300 students,
"If there's anyone here who still believes in Jesus, stand up!" In
twenty years, no one had ever stood up. They knew what he was going to
do next. He would say "Because anyone who does believe in God is a fool.
If God existed, he could stop this piece of chalk from hitting the
ground and breaking. Such a simple task to prove that he is God, and yet
he can't do it." And every year, he would drop the chalk onto the tile
floor of the classroom and it would shatter into a hundred pieces. All
of the students could do nothing but stop and stare. Most of the
students were convinced that God couldn't exist. Certainly, a number of
Christians had slipped through, but for 20 years, they had been too
afraid to stand up.
Well, a few years ago, there was a freshman who happened to get
enrolled in the class. He was a Christian, and had heard the stories
about this professor. He had to take the class because it was one of
required classes for his major. And he was afraid. But for 3 months that
semester, he prayed every morning that he would have the courage to
stand up no matter what the professor said or what the class thought.
Nothing they said or did could ever shatter his faith, he hoped. Finally
the day came. The professor said "If there is anyone here who still
believes in God, stand up!" The professor and the class of 300 people
looked at him, shocked, as he stood up at the back of the classroom.
The professor shouted "You FOOL!! If God existed, he could keep this
piece of chalk from breaking when it hit the ground!" He proceeded to
drop the chalk, but as he did, it slipped out of his fingers, off his
shirt cuff, onto the pleat of his pants, down his leg, and off his shoe.
As it hit the ground, it simply rolled away, unbroken. The professor's
jaw dropped as he stared at the chalk. He looked up at the young man
then ran out of the lecture hall. The young man who had stood up
proceeded to walk to the front of the room and shared his faith in Jesus
for the next half hour. 300 students stayed and listened as he told of
God's love for them and of his power through Jesus. "Yet to all who
receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to
become children of God. Children born not of natural descent, nor of
human decision or a husband's
will, but born of God. But He knows the way that I take. When He has
tested me, I will come forth as gold." Job 23:10
This is a true story of something that happened just a few
years ago at USC. We did not write this, but Email Us anyway. Please continue to pass this on from one Christian to the next as a
message of encouragement and hope. This page is located at Pile
-O- Junk <https://members.tripod.com/~pileojunk>