Germany, early 20th century.
During a lecture for university students, an atheist professor from the University of Berlin challenges his students with the following question:

“Has God created all that exists?”
“Dio ha creato tutto ciò che esiste?”
Uno Studente diligentemente rispose: “Of course!”.
“Then God created everything?” – The teacher replied.
“Of course!”, the student confirmed.
The teacher replied: “If God created everything, then God created evil, because evil exists and according to the principle that we are what we produce, then God is Evil”
The students muttered at this assertion.
The professor, rather pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he had once again proved that religious faith was a myth.
Another student raised his hand and said: “Can I ask a question?”.
“Of course!” – The teacher replied.
The student stood up and said: “Teacher, does cold exist?”.
“”What kind of question is this? Of course, it exists! Have you ever been cold?”. Students laughed at the student’s question
The boy replied: “”Indeed, sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is actually no heat. Every body or object can be studied only when it possesses or transmits energy and heat is the manifestation of a body when it has or transmits energy. Absolute zero (-273 ) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of any reaction at that temperature. The cold, therefore, does not exist. We created this word to describe how we feel… if we do not have heat”
The student carried on: “Teacher, does darkness exist?”.
The teacher replied: “Of course!”.
The student replied: “Again, sir, it is wrong, even darkness does not exist. Darkness is actually absence of light. We can study light, but not darkness. In fact, we can use Newton’s prism to break down white light into many colors and study the different wavelengths of each color. But we cannot measure the darkness. A simple ray of light can enter a dark room and illuminate it. But how do we know how dark that room is? We measure the amount of light present. Right? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when light… is not present”.
Finally the guy asked the professor: “Sir, does evil exist?”.
At this point, hesitant, the professor replied: “Of course, as I have already explained to you. We see it every day. It is in the cruelty that is manifested every day among men. It resides in the multitude of crimes and violent acts that occur everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing but evil”.
At this point the student replied “Evil does not exist, sir, or at least does not exist as such. Evil is simply the absence of God. It’s just like darkness or cold, it’s a word that man created to describe the absence of God. God didn’t create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have the love of God present in his heart. It’s like the cold that manifests itself when there is no heat or darkness that comes when there is no light”.
The young man was applauded by all standing, and the professor, shaking his head, remained silent.
The rector of the University approached the young student and asked him: “What’s your name?”.
“My name is Albert Einstein, sir!” – the boy replied.

By qumran2.net