"I totally agree," said the man holding the book. "It says here on page 17 that Edison was considered to be a genius. I don't think so. I've studied his life and he had so many failures, it was ridiculous. He didn't even 'invent' the light bulb. He only invented the first commercially practical incandescent light.

"Who published this book anyway? I doubt if they know anything about Thomas Edison. I notice here that it says that his wife's name was 'Mary Stilwell.' That's just not true. I'm and educated man. I did a thesis on the man's life once, and I know that his wife's name was definitely 'Mina.'"²

"Interesting... I read somewhere that he used this so-called 'electricity' to kill animals³. Is that true?"

The man holding the book said, "It's true. There has been a great deal of evil done in the name of this so-called 'electricity.' That's why I don't want to have anything to do with it.

"The mess-up with his wife's name isn't the only mistake in this publication. It says here that Edison believed in God's existence. That's absurd! I have read many times that he was an atheist⁴. This manual is a mess. It's filled with contradictions.

"And they expect us to believe in this invisible force called 'electricity...' That has to be the dumbest thing I have ever heard! I don't know about you, but I'm getting out of here."

His two friends heartily agreed. Electricity didn't exist. It seemed to make sense to them that the reason it didn't exist was because they believed that The Owner's Manual was filled with mistakes.

The three men stepped out of the room into the darkness, still wise in their own eyes. They even decided to form a club that was devoted to telling other people that electricity didn't exist.

From, The Atheist Delusion (Bridge Logos Publishers), Ray Comfort (due to be published, July, 2007). Used with permission.

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¹"What is electricity? It is a form of energy, evident from the fact that it runs machinery and can be transformed into other types of energy such as light and heat. It is invisible. During an electrical storm, we do not see electricity. We observe the air being ionized when the electricity travels through it." www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/

²On December 25, 1871, Edison married 16-year-old Mary Stilwell, whom he had met two months earlier. They had three children. Mary Edison died on August 9, 1884. On February 24, 1886, at the age of thirty-nine, Edison married 19-year-old Mina Miller in Akron, Ohio. They also had three children.

³One of the more notable occasions when Edison electrocuted animals was when in 1903, his workers electrocuted an elephant at Luna Park, near Coney Island, after she had killed several men and her owners wanted her put to death. His company filmed the electrocution. Thomas Edison thus introduced the practice of execution by electrocution. http://encyclopedia.calendarhome.com/

⁴Thomas Edison was a freethinker, claiming he did not believe in "the God of the theologians," but did not doubt that "there is a Supreme Intelligence." He is quoted, "I believe that the science of chemistry alone almost proves the existence of an intelligent creator." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison

Ray Comfort and actor Kirk Cameron have recently released "The Basic Training Course"  to educate Christians on how to effectively share their faith. Ray Comfort's ministry has been commended by Franklin Graham, Josh McDowell, Bill Gothard, David Wilkerson, Joni Eareckson Tada, and many other Christian leaders. He has written for Billy Graham's Decision magazine and Bill Bright's Worldwide Challenge. He has also written more than 40 books and is a regular platform speaker at Southern Baptist State Conferences and in churches from almost every denomination. He also co-hosts the award-winning television show "The Way of the Master," with actor Kirk Cameron.