What if you're wrong?

[Awake]

I hear believers often challenge atheists by asking “What if you die and you’re wrong and God does exist?” This is a fair question.

If I were an atheist, I would probably apologize to God and explain that based on what I had seen and experienced in the world, my conclusion was that he probably didn’t exist. However, since I’m not perfect, I came to the wrong conclusion.

Now, what if the same question was posed to you? What if you died and God said to you “You picked the wrong religion. Much of the morality that your religion taught was actually immoral”?

 

[thistle]

I hear believers often challenge atheists by asking “What if you die and you’re wrong and God does exist?” This is a fair question.

If I were an atheist, I would probably apologize to God and explain that based on what I had seen and experienced in the world, my conclusion was that he probably didn’t exist. However, since I’m not perfect, I came to the wrong conclusion.

Now, what if the same question was posed to you? What if you died and God said to you “You picked the wrong religion. Much of the morality that your religion taught was actually immoral”?

That’s impossible because the Catholic Church was established by Christ himself and Christ IS God. All other religions were founded by men.

 

[Awake]

That’s impossible because the Catholic Church was established by Christ himself and Christ IS God. All other religions were founded by men.

You’ve never considered the possibility that you might be wrong?

 

[theistgal]

I hear believers often challenge atheists by asking “What if you die and you’re wrong and God does exist?” This is a fair question.

If I were an atheist, I would probably apologize to God and explain that based on what I had seen and experienced in the world, my conclusion was that he probably didn’t exist. However, since I’m not perfect, I came to the wrong conclusion.

Now, what if the same question was posed to you? What if you died and God said to you “You picked the wrong religion. Much of the morality that your religion taught was actually immoral”?

I’d say, “Really? So it would have been OK to slaughter babies in the womb, steal from my next-door neighbor, and eat eat eat till I exploded? Wow, sorry about that, God. Guess I really blew it!”

What exactly does our religion teach that you think God might someday tell us is “immoral”?

 

[Awake]

What exactly does our religion teach that you think God might someday tell us is “immoral”?

I’m just posing the same hypothetical question that believers pose to atheists. I think it’s a fair question.

 

[caudy]

Awake, it’s a fair question. I see you are a Catholic struggling with Atheism…which I’m assuming you mean you are not sure if you believe in God anymore correct?

Have you tried praying for answers to you questions/doubts? The rosary works well, try that for a couple weeks and see if you have any enlightenment.

God Bless

 

[Newbie2]

I hear believers often challenge atheists by asking “What if you die and you’re wrong and God does exist?” This is a fair question.

If I were an atheist, I would probably apologize to God and explain that based on what I had seen and experienced in the world, my conclusion was that he probably didn’t exist. However, since I’m not perfect, I came to the wrong conclusion.

Now, what if the same question was posed to you? What if you died and God said to you “You picked the wrong religion. Much of the morality that your religion taught was actually immoral”?

And based on what God has revealed to us, he might reply something like “You fool…I gave you all the hints, I sent people and you had my word to show you the way, but you refused to even consider the possibility of my existance, and stubbornly clung to your own self instead of letting yourself go to me. You had your chance, and you blew it. Goodby…”

 

[survive]

I’d say, “I did my best. I loved you and prayed all the time for guidance. I sought you with an open mind and a sincere purpose and a willing heart, and considered every decision in light of what I had been able to find out about you. The evidence that you exist is overwhelming (and confirmed by this very confrontation) as is the evidence that the Christian Scriptures are the library of prophetic and historic letters, poetry and other writings you commissioned and inspired. So is the evidence that you founded a church and it remains on earth as the Catholic Church.If this was an illusion, it showed absolutely unimaginable, utterly unparalleled brilliance. Now please tell me the truth, since we’re meeting already.”

 

[Awake]

And based on what God has revealed to us, he might reply something like “You fool…I gave you all the hints, I sent people and you had my word to show you the way, but you refused to even consider the possibility of my existance, and stubbornly clung to your own self instead of letting yourself go to me. You had your chance, and you blew it. Goodby…”

He might.

He also might say the same thing to you.

 

[VociMike]

Now, what if the same question was posed to you? What if you died and God said to you “You picked the wrong religion. Much of the morality that your religion taught was actually immoral”?

That’s quite a “what if?”. You’d need to give examples of “much of the morality” taught by Catholicism that is immoral. Care to try?

 

[VociMike]

I notice that you don’t also ask “what if you’re right?” Because if you’re right, you cease to exist. If we’re right, we (and you) will exist forever, in a state entirely determined by your actions on this earth.

So, if God doesn’t exist, you “win” by ceasing to exist. If God does exist, you either win or lose for all eternity, to a degree you can’t begin to imagine.

Seems like the smart bet is to live your life as though God exists.

 

[Rolltide]

I notice that you don’t also ask “what if you’re right?” Because if you’re right, you cease to exist. If we’re right, we (and you) will exist forever, in a state entirely determined by your actions on this earth.

So, if God doesn’t exist, you “win” by ceasing to exist. If God does exist, you either win or lose for all eternity, to a degree you can’t begin to imagine.

Seems like the smart bet is to live your life as though God exists.

The theory that one should live one’s life as though God exists is called “Pascal’s Wager”, for the exact reasons that you just spelled out.

 

[Namesake]

That’s impossible because the Catholic Church was established by Christ himself and Christ IS God. All other religions were founded by men.

That is the appeal to authority fallacy. In other words your assertion is not logical and therefore not a compelling argument. If you argue from a position of faith alone, then it makes sense because faith cannot be refuted logically.

 

[Newbie2]

He might.

He also might say the same thing to you.

Doubt it. I don’t reject him.

No doubt he’ll slam me for my sinful behavior, though, which I deserve.

 

[iNs1d3tRiP]

You’ve never considered the possibility that you might be wrong?

This is often the response to Athiests, that choosing a religion of the world among thousands, if not millions is comparable to playing the lottery.

Let me first say that I am not athiest, I have no athiest feelings, however your question (in my opinion atleast) is valid, although a tad offensive.

The truth is, we cannot honestly KNOW if God even exists, that’s why we have faith. We might believe it so strongly we confuse the two but the truth is, no one sees God. Not atheists, not Christians, nor anyone of any religion.

If you are interested more about how this is theoligicaly sound, check out No One Sees God: The Dark Night of Atheists and Believers written by Micheal Novak. He’s a catholic theologian that spoke at my College a few months ago and he had many interesting things to say. Excuse me if I misrepresented his position, that is the best that I understood it.

Now that I have answered why this question, while offensive, it isn’t absurd. First off, we don’t plan on being wrong, otherwise we wouldn’t believe in Christianity and Catholic doctrine. That is why the question is so absurd to many. Second, if we are wrong it would largely depend on which religion was found to be the “correct” religion. For example, many religions don’t even teach about heaven or hell. Many teach of an afterlife, but most don’t teach the afterlife which is common with the Abrahamic religions. So that about limits negative consequences for being wrong to two other options, Judaism and Islam. Obviously, Christianity, Judaism and Islam are the Abrahamic religions each God depicted in them is the same God. So we wouldn’t be wrong in a sense of believing, or living for God. However, we would be wrong for the worship of Christ, which unfortunately has a fairly severe consequence.

If we are wrong for believing in Christ, then we would be punished as God, or the god/gods of the other religion would see fit. It seems fairly obvious that would be the case, I don’t know if that was the answer which you were looking for or not.

However, I don’t plan on being wrong, and if I am then that God wouldn’t be worth worshiping anyways, because if you embrace religion for only the gifts in the afterlife then you have trivialized your God, and your experience as a human being. I some how think that love of your God is more important than the heaven that He promises.

 

[iNs1d3tRiP]

I just want to add, that God is not a means to an end (heaven). God is an end in himself.

That’s why I hate Pascal’s Wager.

 

[bcm6987]

Namesake,
Isn’t it by faith that we accept Jesus as God? Since none of personally witnessed His handing over the keys to Peter, aren’t we faithful in believing that it was done? Are we not compelled to believe (have faith) or disbelieve (lack faith) that the authority to bind and loose was given to the Peter and the others? I’m not trying to provoke an argument, my simple Okie brain understands the “authority” portion as faith-filled as the rest of the equation regarding the “correctness” of the Universal Church. Please explain further your point of view, I find it interesting though lacking.

Peace

 

[TheDoctor]

…Now, what if the same question was posed to you? What if you died and God said to you “You picked the wrong religion. Much of the morality that your religion taught was actually immoral”?

I would say "Lord, I don’t understand. I picked the religion founded by You through Your Son. I followed what You taught us through Your Church that Your Son established. Why Lord did you give us the wrong religion to follow? Why Lord did you teach me immoral things?

 

[Awake]

I notice that you don’t also ask “what if you’re right?” Because if you’re right, you cease to exist. If we’re right, we (and you) will exist forever, in a state entirely determined by your actions on this earth.

So, if God doesn’t exist, you “win” by ceasing to exist. If God does exist, you either win or lose for all eternity, to a degree you can’t begin to imagine.

Seems like the smart bet is to live your life as though God exists.

I don’t know why you’re so caught up in me being an atheist. I already told you that I’m not and that I don’t know what I believe in. I’m trying to figure that out.

My question is not regarding atheism versus theism. The question I ask is what if you die and God tells you that you pick the wrong religion.

 

[Awake]

This is often the response to Athiests, that choosing a religion of the world among thousands, if not millions is comparable to playing the lottery.

Let me first say that I am not athiest, I have no athiest feelings, however your question (in my opinion atleast) is valid, although a tad offensive.

The truth is, we cannot honestly KNOW if God even exists, that’s why we have faith. We might believe it so strongly we confuse the two but the truth is, no one sees God. Not atheists, not Christians, nor anyone of any religion.

If you are interested more about how this is theoligicaly sound, check out No One Sees God: The Dark Night of Atheists and Believers written by Micheal Novak. He’s a catholic theologian that spoke at my College a few months ago and he had many interesting things to say. Excuse me if I misrepresented his position, that is the best that I understood it.

Now that I have answered why this question, while offensive, it isn’t absurd. First off, we don’t plan on being wrong, otherwise we wouldn’t believe in Christianity and Catholic doctrine. That is why the question is so absurd to many. Second, if we are wrong it would largely depend on which religion was found to be the “correct” religion. For example, many religions don’t even teach about heaven or hell. Many teach of an afterlife, but most don’t teach the afterlife which is common with the Abrahamic religions. So that about limits negative consequences for being wrong to two other options, Judaism and Islam. Obviously, Christianity, Judaism and Islam are the Abrahamic religions each God depicted in them is the same God. So we wouldn’t be wrong in a sense of believing, or living for God. However, we would be wrong for the worship of Christ, which unfortunately has a fairly severe consequence.

If we are wrong for believing in Christ, then we would be punished as God, or the god/gods of the other religion would see fit. It seems fairly obvious that would be the case, I don’t know if that was the answer which you were looking for or not.

You bring up some good points. It’s true that nobody plans to be wrong, and like you said, nobody knows for sure and that’s where faith comes in. But surely any humble believer must consider the possibility that they may in fact be wrong.

Also, it’s true that choosing a religion isn’t like playing the lottery, because most people would agree that ultimately one should follow the faith they believe in. Atheists, however, are following what they believe in, which is a belief that God doesn’t exist.

However, I don’t plan on being wrong, and if I am then that God wouldn’t be worth worshiping anyways, because if you embrace religion for only the gifts in the afterlife then you have trivialized your God, and your experience as a human being. I some how think that love of your God is more important than the heaven that He promises.

Interesting thought. My question would be if you are following the wrong religion and God turns out to be drastically different than you perceive him, then are you really loving God by following your faith?

Oh, and I have read Michael Novak’s book. To be honest, I was a little disappointed with it, probably because I heard great things about it before hand. He did bring up several intriguing points, though.