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True or False ?

 Copyright © September 1, 2017 by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.
All Rights Reserved.


Baseball Stadium If we believe something is either true or false, then does that make it true or false?

For example, if we believe that a specific team will win a ball game, and if we say many positive things about that team and we say many negative things about the other team, then will what we say or believe cause our team to win the ball game and the other team to lose the game? (Note: Before a game was over, have you ever been wrong about who you believed would win the game?)

One way that true and false can be defined would be as follows:
  1. True: If something is true then it is true regardless of whether or not we believe it is true.
  2. False: If something is false then it is false regardless of whether or not we believe it is false.
Our belief or our lack of belief about something does not make something either true or false.
Things are either true or false based on their own merit and they do not become true or false simply because we accept them or we reject them.

Now for the important question: Do heaven and hell really exist?

If a Christian believes in heaven and hell then does that mean they both exist? If an atheist does not believe in heaven or hell then does that mean that neither of them exist? Do our beliefs cause heaven and hell to exist or not exist? The answer is no. Heaven and hell either exist or they do not exist regardless of what we believe.

The simple fact is that it is impossible to prove or disprove the existence of either heaven or hell. All the best arguments for and against the existence of heaven and hell are nothing more than words and words do not prove or disprove anything.

Since it is not possible to prove whether or not heaven and hell exist then we need to allow for both of the following possibilities if we wish to be honest and objective.
  1. Heaven and hell do exist.
  2. Heaven and hell do not exist.
Since there are two possible outcomes and it is impossible to prove or disprove either one, then we must assign a probability of 50% to each possibility. If we assign any probability other than 50% to either of the two options then we are not being objective and we are allowing our own personal bias to dictate an answer that we personally want to believe.

Now let's consider the impact of each of the above two options on the lives of two different people as follows:
  1. A person dies and that person did believe in God and in heaven and hell. At the time of death one of two things will happen:
    50% chance that heaven and hell do exist - the person spends eternity in heaven for believing in God.
    50% chance that heaven and hell do not exist - the person simply dies and ceases to exist.

  2. A person dies and that person did not believe in God or in heaven or hell. At the time of death one of two things will happen:
    50% chance that heaven and hell do exist - the person spends eternity in hell for rejecting God.
    50% chance that heaven and hell do not exist - the person simply dies and ceases to exist.
If we examine the above possibilities objectively, then the person who does believe in God and in heaven and hell has nothing to fear at the time death. The person will either cease to exist, or the person will spend eternity in heaven. Regardless of whether or not heaven or hell exist, this person has nothing to fear at the time of death.

On the other hand, the person who does not believe in God has a 50% chance of simply ceasing to exist at the time of death if God is not real. But there is also a 50% chance that God is real and that death is not the end of life and the person will spend eternity in hell.

I fully realize that many, many people will want to complicate the above simple analysis by believing in reincarnation, or a variety of other things, in order to justify their behavior and their beliefs. But as mentioned at the beginning of this article, what we believe or do not believe does not make something true or false.

Coin Toss Heaven and hell are either real or they are not real. One of these two options has to be true regardless of all the other theories that a person may wish to discuss.
  1. A person who believes in God and in heaven and hell has a 50% chance of spending eternity in heaven, and a 50% chance of simply ceasing to exist at the time of death. Death cannot hurt a person who believes.
  2. On the other hand, a person who does not believe in God and in heaven and hell has a 50% chance of simply ceasing to exist at the time of death. But the person also has a 50% chance of being cast into hell for all eternity. In other words, the person who does not believe is hypothetically willing to flip a coin at the time of death to determine if they will spend eternity in hell or if they will simply cease to exist. In my opinion, a person's eternal destiny is not a smart thing to gamble on, especially if the chance of losing is 50%.
People who do not believe in heaven and hell have a multitude of reasons and excuses why they do not believe. Some people believe that if God really does exist then when they die they are going to negotiate with God about their eternal destiny and God is going to grant them admittance into heaven for some reason that appears perfectly logical to them. These individuals do not believe in True and False (and in right and wrong) as established by God. Instead they believe that all they have to do is believe in whatever they wish and that will make their beliefs true even if their beliefs are totally false. These people are deceiving themselves and the one person that you should never, ever lie to is yourself.

Respectfully,
Grandpappy.

Grandpappy's e-mail address is: RobertWayneAtkins@hotmail.com

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