Atheos Dialogue: Pascal's Wager

Know Christ or get tortured for eternity.

Select an ideal response for:

I felt led to come up & speak with you about my Lord & Savior Jesus Christ.

Hello. But, you should be warned: You may no longer believe in God after we're done.

Hello. I'd be happy to speak with you about your God belief.

Hi. I'd love to speak with you. But before go any further, if you felt led to kill me, would you?

Hi. (shakes hands) It would be a pleasure to talk with you about this.

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Thanks for your time! Now tell me, if you stole something, what would that make you?

Before we get started, can we agree that we should strive to have a sincere conversation & not a debate?

This sounds right out of the Ray Comfort playbook. Let's cut the crap & have a conversation, not a debate.

Um. A thief, I guess. I'll have you know I have never stolen anything in my life. Where are you going with this?

Could we agree to try for a meaningful conversation & not a debate?

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(Exhales) Yes. I don't want to argue with you, either. But, please: If I saw your house was on fire, wouldn't you want me to tell you?

Sure. And I would do the same for you. Can we talk about why you feel obligated to help me?

But the way I see it, my house is just fine. I can't even smell smoke. Don't you see there's nothing to fret about?

The problem is, my house isn't on fire. There's not even any smoke. Can't you see you're worrying about nothing?

Of course. I'm not sure where you're going with this...?

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Well, (holds up Bible) there's a Hell & I don't want you to go there. Will you allow me to help you?

If your beliefs were valid, yes. Can you please tell me the primary reason you believe this is true?

Hmm. I'm open to help if I ought to be concerned. What is the main reason why you believe what you do?

Frankly, I'm not sure if I would even let you help me cross the street.

Hell sounds like a horrible place. Why do you think your God would have created such a location in the first place?

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Well, it's obvious. Just look at the trees! How could this have all come about except for God?

Ugh. You are going to break out the watch-maker argument next, aren't you?

Look closely enough & we'd also find viruses & cancer. You haven't really thought this one through, have you?

We have a fairly good idea why trees are here. Is that the main reason why you believe—because of our observable surroundings?

Scanning the area closely could also reveal cancer & deadly parasites. Is this the main reason for your belief?

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Well, it's one of my reasons. But listen: I know you will receive the ultimate reward if you accept Jesus into your heart.

I don't think you know it, but it's fairly obvious that you believe it. Can't you see the difference between the two?

I struggle to understand how you can claim to know something that is not provable. How do you manage with such an unreliable epistemology?

Is this something that you know or something that you really, really believe?

Would you say you know it, or that you strongly believe it?

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Well (long pause) I strongly believe it. But please, what IF I'm right & you're wrong?

If everything you assume is true, I'm Hell-bound. How do you know your assumptions are true?

And as predicted, there's Pascal's Wager. Do people really still use that argument?

If every condition you assume is true, I would go to Hell. But I'm still unclear how you know it's true—can you explain how you know?

If you're correct, I'd have some kind of life after death. But it's clear you're just making up this scenario. Why are you doing that?

Select an ideal response for:

I don't know it's absolutely true. But the possibility of eternal torture alone is enough to want to believe.

Burning forever is frightening. But is the fear of a possible terrible outcome a valid reason for belief?

Fear can make people do irrational things. Do you really think a physical location called Hell exists & you will be tortured forever?

Fear is a powerful motivator. But does believing something just because you're afraid of it make it any more real?

Human brains do odd things when they're fearful or under stress. Is it really likely a Hell is a place & people are burned for eternity?

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I don't want to go to Hell, even if there's a 1 percent chance it was real.

Nor would I. But how would a person know they were following the correct God?

Nobody would want to go to such a place. I'm just perplexed why you would be so fearful of a place that simply doesn't exist.

Those are actually pretty decent odds.

Sure. It sounds like a nightmare. But how does a person figure out they've chosen the correct God?

Select an ideal response for:

Huh? I mean... my Lord & Savior Jesus Christ is the one True God.

I've had similar conversations with Muslims who would challenge that. Do you think Allah would be happy someone chose Jesus instead of Him?

This is the second time now you've said this. It is getting more true.

You are saying Jesus is God. But you do realize asserting something doesn't make it true. If you said Allah was true, would that make it so?

I've met Hindus that would strongly disagree with that. Do you think Lord Vishnu would be pleased you were worshipping someone else?

Select an ideal response for:

I'm not sure. No, those Gods aren't real. Those poor people are wrong & are following false Gods.

(Immediately, without any reflective pause whatsoever) Those Gods are just as unreal as yours, sir!

Those people would likely say the same thing about you. How would you go about proving them wrong?

How could a person show that the God you believe in is more real than a Hindu's belief in Lord Vishnu?

How might a person illustrate that your God is more real than the Muslim God Allah, for instance?

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I know those other Gods aren't real, but I cannot prove it to you. I just don't know how to do it... (very long pause from both parties)

How could you possibly know that not even one God out of the thousands that man has created were not true?

Are you open to meet with me each weekend so we could investigate all the popular God claims & where they stand on the concept of Hell?

If you cannot show those other Gods are inferior to your God in some way, can you have such confidence in your belief God & Hell exist?

If you're unable to show that your God is any more real than other Gods, can you be so certain your God exists & Hell is an option?

Select an ideal response for:

Maybe not.

It was a good talk. Take care.

Thanks for your time. I really enjoyed the chat.

Would you take some time to review your Bible & think about it?

Boom. Mic-drop. (you walk slowly & mysteriously back away from the believer)