A story for every day...
The chicken or the egg.
A student returning from the University boasted of his knowledge. His mother, a simple peasant woman, let him say so, and then she asked him the following question, “Since you have delved into all the mysteries, tell me then, was the egg before the hen or the hen before the egg?” The son answered, “The egg existed first, because chicks come out of eggs.” The mother replied, “Impossible, because the egg comes from the hen, so the hen came before the egg. – Perhaps you are right, mother,” said the student, a little offended. But the mother continued, “Remember that every chicken also comes from an egg.” The student did not breathe a word, but the mother continued, “You will always be an ignoramus, as long as you do not believe in a creator. The universe is an indecipherable enigma for those who do not admit to a God. The Creed is the key to science and wisdom.”
The priority of existence belongs to either the egg or the chicken, but neither of them could have formed themselves. The difficulty can only be solved by admitting a God who created the first egg or the first hen.
A caprice of chance.
The famous French painter Achard was once in Paris with an atheist, who was fighting with sophistry the belief in God and attributed the genesis of the world to chance. After having let him rant for some time, Achard, a passionate admirer of the beauties of nature, said to him, “Sir, you speak like a fool.” The atheist replied, “Do you know who you are talking to? I am a doctor of philosophy and author of a work crowned by the Academy.” Without being disconcerted, the painter resumed: “Ah, you are a doctor and have won a prize. It was undoubtedly only the play of chance.”
A book cannot be the effect of chance; it presupposes an author. A fortiori a mechanism as ingenious and complicated as the universe could not be conceived without an infinitely intelligent and powerful author.
