This reportedly is a true story of something that happened years ago at U.S.C. There was a professor of philosophy there who was a deeply committed atheist. His main goal for a 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 good logic.
For twenty years, he had taught this class and no one ever had the courage to challenge him. A few asked questions in class at times, but no one ‘really stood-up to him’ (you’ll see what I mean later).
No one would stand-up to him because of his reputation. At the end of each semester, on the last day, he would say to his class of 300 students,”If there is anyone who still believes in Jesus, stand up!”
In twenty years, no one ever stood up. They knew what he was going to do next. He’d say, “because anyone who believes in God is a fool. If God existed, he could stop this piece of chalk from hitting the ground and breaking. A simple task to prove that he is God, and yet he can’t do it.” Every year, he’d drop the chalk onto the tile floor of the classroom and it would shatter into many pieces. The students did nothing but watch. Most of the students were convinced that God didn’t exist. Yes, a number of Christians had gone through the class but for 20 years, they were afraid to stand-up and say anything.
A few years ago, there was a freshman who happened to enroll in the class. He was a Christian, and he heard the stories about this professor. But he had to take the class because it was required for his major. He too was afraid of the professor. So, for 3 months that semester he prayed every morning that he would have the courage to standup no matter what the professor said or what the class thought. Nothing the professor said could ever shatter his faith, he hoped. Finally the day came. The professor said,”If there’s anyone here who still believes in God, stand up!” The professor and the class of 300 students looked surprised, as the young Christian student stood-up.
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, as he had done before, but as he did, it slipped out of his hand, off his shirt cuff, onto the pleats of his pants, down his leg, and off his shoe.As it hit the ground, it just rolled away, “unbroken.” The professors jaw dropped as he stared at the chalk. He looked at the young Christian man, and then ran out of the room.
The young man who had stood-up walked to the front of the room, and then shared his faith in Jesus the next half-hour. The 300 students stayed and listened as he told of God’s love for them through Jesus.
“Yet to all who received HIM, to those who believed in HIS name, HE gave the right to become children of God — children not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husbands will, but born of GOD.”
Addendum — Job 23:10 “HE knows the way that I take. When HE has tested me, I will come forth as gold.”
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