Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Religion News
“Matt, What If You’re Wrong?”: Addressing the Infernalist’s Version of Pascal’s Wager

“Matt, What If You’re Wrong?”: Addressing the Infernalist’s Version of Pascal’s Wager

Last updated on: January 5, 2021 at 8:39 am by Matthew Distefano

“Matt, What If You’re Wrong?”: Addressing the Infernalist’s Version of Pascal’s Wager 2021-01-05T08:39:20-06:00 Matthew Distefano

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In case you didn’t know, I’m a Universalist. This means that in the end, I believe all will be reconciled to God and one another. How this works out, specifically, I’m not sure. It could be Christocentric as my good friend Keith Giles says, or it could be more pluralistic as my best friend Michael Machuga suggests. Either way, it renders me a heretic in the eyes of many, leaving countless folks confused and asking, “Matt, what if you’re wrong?”

To that, I ask: “Well, what if YOU’RE wrong?”

I know people think they’re being unique and clever by asking this question, but they’re not. It’s a question with a long history, one that dates back to French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal. In essence, he asserted that humans bet with their lives that either God exists or not. The problem, of course, is that there are many versions of God out there, from the bigoted, homophobic, wrathful gods of fundamentalism, to the all-loving, all-merciful, all-inclusive God of the mystics. So, which one do we have to dedicate our lives to in order to “get in,” as it were?

Without a doubt, when Christians ask me this question – “What if you’re wrong?” – they are assuming their version of God is correct. They aren’t even entertaining the notion that the God of Islam, for instance, is the right one, and that they have to become a Muslim in order to “get into heaven.” Hell, they probably aren’t even entertaining the idea that the “wrong” version of the Christian God is correct, and that they’ll have to convert from Protestantism to Catholicism, or from Orthodox to Coptic, or any other combination available.

Fascinating.

But let’s just pretend this is a good question. Let’s play along for a minute. What if I AM wrong? So what? Is God so small that I have to get all the facts about “him” correct in order to enjoy the sky-party that awaits the good Christians of the world? And what if I tried and tried and tried to be a good Christian but realized that in the end I was only deceiving myself, that I was only faking Sunday worship? What if I can’t actually worship a God who either sends or allows people to send themselves to the giant human posthumous bonfire under the earth? Honestly, I tried to do this for damn near three decades and came up short. So, if I’m wrong, I’ll let him know.

I’ll let him know that I couldn’t worship a God who allows humans to suffer for all eternity.

I’ll let him know that I couldn’t worship a God who despised people because of their sexuality.

I’ll let him know that I couldn’t worship a God who commanded genocide.

I’ll let him know that I couldn’t worship a God who uses fear as a tactic to get people to bend their knees.

But if this is indeed the God who runs the cosmos, then I’ll have to answer the question, “What if I’m wrong?,” with “I guess I’m screwed.” I guess God’s love isn’t as wide, deep, broad, and high as Paul suggested. I guess Jesus isn’t the “savior of all,” as the Bible asserts. And I guess that even if I got things right and made it in, that I’ll have to endure the pain, like the rest of the in-crowd, of losing someone I love forever to the flames below. Because let’s not get it twisted: Some of those we love ain’t gonna make it. And that’s gonna be hell, in and of itself.

So, again, let me turn this back around and ask, “What if YOU’RE wrong?” What if your loved ones burn forever in hell? What if God is exactly like you say and that all your non-Christian friends will be ripped from you to be tormented night and day, eternally? Are you gonna count that as a win? Weird flex, but okay…

At the end of the day, I really hope I’m not wrong. And given how I understand the interconnectedness of the human being, you’ll probably hope I’m not wrong either. Because it’s gonna suck. Truly. For all of us.

If you wanna get to know me better, please follow me on social media. I’m pretty active on all platforms:

Also, if you’ve been digging my work on here, and want to see me be able to continue writing as close to full-time as humanly possible, please take a look at my Patreon page at www.patreon.com/mjdistefano. Even $1 a month helps bigly!!!

Previous Post

January 4, 2021

Let Freedom Ring!

Next Post

January 5, 2021 New HERETIC HAPPY HOUR: Episode 093 w/Alexander John Shaia

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Atonement Book Review Early Church Eschatology eternal torment Hell Hermeneutics LGBTQ+ Mimetic Theory Mysticism News Old Testament Podcast Poetry Politics Prayer Religion Sacrifice Satire Soteriology Theology Uncategorized Violence

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 June 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 June 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What sign marked the houses to be spared during Passover?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A lit candle A red ribbon A dove symbol Blood on doorposts

Books by This Author Books by All Set Free

See All Titles »