Question about Death?

Question

For the Believers , such as myself, we believe that after someone dies they go to meet god for judgement. And judging by their actions, God gives the final verdict of going to either heaven or hell. For the Athiest who believe there is not a god, believe that you die and your body rots, and thats the end. Now If there is not a god, then when we die, I as a christian wont be missing anything because my body will just rot and i'll cease to exist. But what if from the christian point of view, When I die I do see there is truly a god and I didnt believe there was one, How would you feel when you see him and he judges and sent you to the outer darkness? Just wanted to see what the athiest would say (my christian brothers and sisters are welcomed to answer).You'll probably still say it will never happen.

Answer 1

I know what you are trying to say, but the believer believes because the Holy Spirit has created faith in their heart. Faith is believing in something you cannot see. It is unlikely you can reason with an unbeliever to show him it is advantageous to be a Christian. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. The best we can do is to show them their need for a Savior by uncovering their sin, and then to proclaim the Good News of the Gospel to them.

Answer 2

There is an interesting tension in the gospel about the end of life/end of time. While it is clear that our actions do have ramifications on our eternal resting place (Mt 25)...it is also clear that our actions do not EARN us salvation or there would be no need for a savior.

Now----Christians also believe that all the OT saints are given the opportunity to embrace or deny Jesus----which leads me to wonder if people who are never genuinely given the opportunity to know Jesus in this life---may just have that in the end. I am not talking about people that flat out hate Jesus and know what is required but refuse to change their lives because they are haughty, but rather those that actually never had a chance at developing a personal relationship with the Lord====

Just some thoughts.

Answer 3

You're kind of begging the question. Putting my reasoning mind in cold storage so I can hope for a life after this one suggests that I shouldn't value my own thinking. That's ridiculous. It's like knowing placing a bet on a rigged roulette table.

If I reasonably think there is no evidence for the existence of a soul, the existence of God, or the existence of an afterlife, then I'd better live this life to the fullest. That's the best gamble.

Answer 4

That argument you've presented is known as Pascal's Wager. It's been used many many many times as an apologetics tool however it is entirely flawed.

Think about it this way. Out of all of the religious beliefs over time how can you be certain that the one believe in is the only true way?
Can all of them be right? no... can all of them be wrong? absolutely.

Also if you simply believe in Jesus is that enough to save you? And how does that change your behavior if you simply adjust to entertain the possibility that he might exist and be the only way to salvation after death.

Furthermore what evidence is there that death is not just the end?

Answer 5

Another weakly posed question based on Pascal's Flaw.

Your question has a huge logical fallacy; false dilemma.

You're assuming that the only possibilities are that the christian God exists and punishes or rewards as stated in the bible, or that god does not exist.

Don't forget about the possibility that there is a god/s who, rather than behaving as stated in certain parts of the Bible, instead rewards skepticism and punishes blind faith, or rewards honest reasoning and punishes feigned faith, or does not punish belief or disbelief at all.

Stop and think before you faith.

Answer 6

I don't base my beliefs on a system of rewards. Also, I would not want to spend eternity with a being that would condemn me for not believing something for which there is no evidence.


What will you do if you die and God tells you that he only saves those who do not believe in him?

How would you feel if there's a big wheel you spin which decides whether or not you get into heaven.

"What ifs" are pointless.

Answer 7

WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT DEATH

Jesus Christ spoke about the condition of the dead. He did so with regard to Lazarus, a man whom he knew well and who had died. Jesus told his disciples: “Lazarus our friend has gone to rest.” The disciples thought that Jesus meant that Lazarus was resting in sleep, recovering from an illness. They were wrong. Jesus explained: “Lazarus has died.” (John 11:11-14) Notice that Jesus compared death to rest and sleep. Lazarus was neither in heaven nor in a burning hell. He was not meeting angels or ancestors. Lazarus was not being reborn as another human. He was at rest in death, as though in a deep sleep without dreams. Other scriptures also compare death to sleep. For example, when the disciple Stephen was stoned to death, the Bible says that he “fell asleep.” (Acts 7:60) Similarly, the apostle Paul wrote about some in his day who had “fallen asleep” in death.—1 Corinthians 15:6.


The Bible teaches that the dead “are conscious of nothing at all.” They are not alive and have no conscious existence anywhere. The account of Lazarus confirms this. Upon returning to life, did Lazarus thrill people with descriptions of heaven? Or did he terrify them with horrible tales about a burning hell? No. The Bible contains no such words from Lazarus. During the four days that he was dead, he had been “conscious of nothing at all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5) Lazarus had simply been sleeping in death.—John 11:11.
The account of Lazarus also teaches us that the resurrection is a reality, not a mere myth. Jesus raised Lazarus in front of a crowd of eyewitnesses. Even the religious leaders, who hated Jesus, did not deny this miracle.

Think about this too: If Lazarus had been in heaven for those four days, would he not have said something about it?— And if he had been in heaven, would Jesus have made him come back to earth from that wonderful place?— Of course not!

Yet, many people say that we have a soul, and they say that the soul lives on after the body dies. They say that Lazarus’ soul was alive somewhere. But the Bible does not say that. It says that God made the first man Adam “a living soul.” Gen. 2:7, Adam was a soul. The Bible also says that when Adam sinned, he died. He became a “dead soul,” and he returned to the dust from which he had been made. The Bible also says that all Adam’s offspring inherited sin and death too.

The Scriptural teaching of the resurrection, however, is not compatible with the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. If an immortal soul survived death, no one would need to be resurrected, or brought back to life. Indeed, Martha expressed no thought about an immortal soul that was living on elsewhere after death. She did not believe that Lazarus had already gone to some spirit realm to continue his existence. On the contrary, she showed her faith in God’s purpose to reverse the effects of death. She said: “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” (John 11:23, 24) Likewise, Lazarus himself related no experiences of some afterlife. There was nothing to report.

Clearly, according to the Bible, the soul dies and the remedy for death is the resurrection. You enjoy the best sleep ever, until Jesus resurrects you, sometime in the future.

Answer 8

Er, since there is no god and no life after death, this "question" is pretty silly. The obvious response from the nonbeliever is that you're simply wrong.

Did you mean to say something else here, and simply got so caught up in this that you forgot to get to the point?

Answer 9

whats you are talking about is called pascals wager

it falls apart on one word Islam. if Muslims are right then as a Christian you will burn in hell for not accepting Mohamed as a prophet but if Christians are right then Muslims will go to hell for not accepting Jesus as their lord and savior.

either way one group will burn so you cannot say that your chances are better with one or the other.

Answer 10

This is an interesing argument. If there is a God, who would forgive us now for not believing in (whatever) why would he not forgive us later for not believing in him now? Besides, what type of lifestyle we lived is the real judgment isnt it? Not the belief.