Ch. 49 A Few Thoughts Regarding Faith In God


Pascal's Wager

If you have faith in God, and God exists, then you gain everything and go to heaven. If you do not have faith in God, and God exists, then you lose everything and go to hell.

Believing that God exists is not equivalent to believing in God.

Believing that God exists but that he has mismanaged the world is not equivalent to believing in God.

Believing in God means you have faith in God, and you accept Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for your sins. Faith in God means you believe he knows what he is doing, even in the face of evil, pain, and suffering. If you believe there is a God but that he has mismanaged the universe, then that is equivalent to not having faith in God.

A child receiving a vaccination could look up to his father and wonder why his father is allowing, even requiring him, to submit to a painful needle. The child does not understand the greater good that will come about because of the vaccination. At that moment the child is sure beyond all doubt that his father does not care for him, how could he if he makes him experience the pain? The child is sure that his father has mismanaged things.

Is There a Complaint Department?

If there is a God and you did not have faith in him, and you plan to go to a complaint department to list all your complaints regarding your perception that he mismanaged the world then be aware that you have made a heroic assumption. The assumption is that God will be interested in hearing your complaints; he may not be interested in hearing your complaints.

This does not mean that there will be no opportunity to voice your complaints; it just puts forward the possibility that God may not be interested in listening or responding to them. Hell will be full of people with complaints about how God has done things.