Using Scientific Reason to Promote Religious Reasoning

Upon discussing the problem of evil in class, it occurred to me that I had also heard an attempt, transmitted through chain email message, to rationalize it away. Unlike the methods that we discussed in class, this method isn't employed in attempt to run away from the problem, it tries to use scientific reason to rationalize the problem of evil. In short, the conversation was supposedly had between Albert Einstein and an unknown college professor and went like so:

Al: Do 'darkness' and 'cold' exist?

Prof: Yes

Al: No, they do not. Dark is the absence of  light, and cold is the absence of heat. Now, does evil exist?

Prof: Aye, it does

Al: No, you are wrong. Evil is simply the absence of God.

This, notwithstanding the invocation of science to defend religion, does not actually answer the problem of evil, even if it appears to do so. Those who attempt to employ this argument to dismiss the problem of evil are convinced that simply invoking science will cause people to not question the problem any further. The question of the problem of evil is - if god is all powerful and all-good, why does he allow evil to exist? The question that this dialogue answered is - What is evil? In addition to all of this, I've also heard it said that God is Omni-present as well, so he doesn't really have an absence.