Is it better to die a Christian and find out there is no God?

Question

Or, Is it better to die an athiest and find out there is a God?

Answer 1

A simple answer to the question is called Pascal's Wager. The notion is that it is better to live a good life believeing in God so that when one reaches heaven, one can enter and enjoy eternal bliss, but if that person was wrong and there is no God, well then, he or she lived a good, fulfilling life and will not know that difference anyway because he or she will cease to exist.
Personally, I find it difficult to comprehend a life in which after I die I will become nothing. We have nothing to lose by living a good life. By living a good life, we are fulfilling human nature, and by descending to the level of animals in our actions, we ourselves become animals. Also, if this is our only life, then wouldn't it be good to help out someone else who isn't as well off as us, to make their time a little easier.
It's better to believe there's going to be someone there at the end of this journey, that being that has guided us to the journey's end, to greet us and relieve of us of our humanity in return for life eternal, and infinite knowledge and wisdom. If there's not, hey, no one will be waiting there laughing at you, they'll be just as lifeless as you.

Answer 2

If the God described in Christianity is truly compassionate, It would not damn you to eternal hell for not believing in It when you were put in a world given free thought and no first-hand indicators that It existed. If that God did exist, is it an entity you would want to worship anyway? Lead your life with love in your heart and promoting beauty and happiness, free from dogma. If any God judges you harshly for doing such, then it isn't a God worth devoting yourself to.

If you die a Christian and find out there is no God, then first that means you at least still have some sort of soul or stream of consciousness, because you have the ability to "find out" things. You may feel cheated if being Christian caused you to live a life you didn't want to leave. However, if Christianity was a path that created happiness and love in your life, then I don't think it would matter much that there was no God. When you use Christianity as a path towards opening your heart then does it matter whether God exists or not? God is just a vehicle to get you to live your life more beautifully.

In short, if you follow your heart and do what you can to make the world a better place, there's no need to worry about whether a God exists or not.

On a side note, I don't think it's possible to ever find out if there is a God or not. That would depend on an infallible sense of perception, which we don't have.

Answer 3

A ha!
A pascal's wager![1]
What you are basically saying one should be christian to "play the odds". I.E. If there really is god -- it is infinitely better to be a christian, but if there is not -- no big deal.
The problem with your argument is that you assume that the ONLY 2 possibilities are Christian God as described in bible, or no god at all.
But in reality there is an INFINITY of possibilities. For example what if there is God but he only puts atheist in heaven? Or what if Aztec Gods are real, and to get in heaven you must sacrifice 5 virgins?
So let me rephrase this question from Aztec point of view:
Is it better to sacrifice 5 virgins then die and find out that there is no Aztec God?
Or is it better to NOT sacrifice 5 virgins and then die and find out that the Aztec were right all along?
Are you going to sacrifice 5 virgins on a chance that it will get you in heaven?

Answer 4

It is impossible to die a Christian and find out there is no God.
To find that out means you are in communication with another consciousness..therefore there is a God, but your earthy awareness was far short of the bigger picture.
Alternately, if an Athiest finds anything out after death, he has just found that his whole perspective on life was a complete waste of a human brain.
Only in a void of nothingness without conscious thought or memory will the point of the Athiest be credible or vindicated....

Answer 5

The second one obviously, but that's a hypothetical question because if there's no God there's probably no afterlife, so how would I know? I would much rather die believing in a meaningful universe created by an intelligent being. If something can be wrong and yet make life make so much more sense, then I'm wrong, but I don't think so.

Answer 6

I think another facet to this question is "who got it Right?" the mormons the muslims, the christians, the episcapalians, the roman catholics?

So lets assume for a second that there is a god. what were his motivations for putting us here without us being able to ascertain whether or not he/she exists? (we will never know that one! unless of course when we die there is a god.)

So since even if there is a god we cannot know its motivations then how do we know that She doesn't want us to go out killing everyone? we dont.

I think that what is important is to live in accordance with your own personal morals. Granted, religion is a far easier way to deal with moral dilemas than to think them through on your own accord. But I beleive thinking about the ramifications of your own behavior is far more satisfying.

Ok to sum up. We cannot in this life know if there is a god. we cannot know what happens when we die. we cannot know "gods will" so hedgeing your bets in the thought that god is a christian god might just piss him off.

IE theres no real way of knowing. hedgeing your bets is no sure fire way to "make god happy"

Ok so another facet, If god is like "Daddy in the Sky" what would he want? would he want you praiseing him all day and saying how wonderful he is? We can transfer this analogie to our own children (if you have children that is) What would you want from your children? I personally would want my child to think for himself and ponder the mysteries of life and to not take the advice of a priest, minister, or a sunday school teacher. I would want him to read from all types of books to broaden his knowledge.

I think God wants me to be an atheist.

Answer 7

Better to die as an atheist I think because at least you would know. Because if there is no God, when you die you're nothing.

Answer 8

If there is no god there will be nothing to find out, you will be dust. If you find out there is a god eternity should suck really bad.