Pascal's wager
From PhiloWiki
Pascal's wager: It's wiser to believe in God than to risk an eternity in Hell.
Christian views
There is only one prerequisite for being a christian, that's to believe that Jesus died for your sins and the sins of others, i.e- he died for the sins of 'mankind'. Jesus states that nothing else is required to get to the christian heaven, other than to accept this sacrifice.
The acceptance of the sacrifice requires repentence toward a life which is more like the life of Jesus. This is what being a christian is, ie- trying to live a life closer to Jesus, by reading the word of the bible and praying to Jesus, meditating on it and using it to understand how to live your life.
"Will a Protestant find him or herself in the Catholic hell?"
Whether protestant or Catholic, if you don't believe that Jesus died for your sins then you're not a christian. If you're not a christian then you can't enter the kingdom of heaven as described by Jesus.
The important question is, what constitutes this beleif in Jesus? A mere statement? A life of repentance? Or more importantly, a life or difficulty, whilst a profound statement that you do indeed believe in the salvation found in Christ. Religion is a very personal issue, it's not really for someone else to know, only you and God.
- Resources are needed. Feel free to find and add resources.
Secular views
- "[A] main problem with Pascal's Wager is, it doesn't tell you which God. To hedge one's bets, should one believe in Judaism, Christianity and Islam? But Christianity says you can't be a Muslim, and Islam says you can't be a Christian. Will the Christian find him or herself in Allah's hell?
- Also note that while today, most Christians are happy to say that other Christian denominations are acceptable to Jesus, but this wasn't always the case. Catholics and Protestants used to go to war. Will a Protestant find him or herself in the Catholic hell?"
