The Thinking Person’s Bet On Eternity
There is a famous hypothetical “bet” called “ “Pascal’s Wager” which asserts that, since heaven is, or even only may be, eternal with infinite pleasure, a rational person, including a rational atheist or a rational agnostic, should “bet” that heaven actually does exist and do here on this earth what is needed to get to that perhaps-fictional heaven. If it turns out to exist, the bettor wins, and wins big; if not, nothing was lost anyway.
Place Your Bets – Pascal & Arnobius
Blaise Pascal was a noted author, thinker, mathematician, and philosopher who lived from, 1623 A.D to 1662 A.D. His famous wager had been stated centuries before by a Father Of The Church, Arnobius of Sicca, who died around 330 A.D. Arnobius put the eternity bet this way in his book, Against The Pagans:
Since, then, the nature of the future is such that it cannot be grasped and comprehended by any anticipation, is it not more rational, of two things uncertain and hanging in doubtful suspense, rather to believe that which carries with it some hopes, than that which brings none at all? For in the one case there is no danger, if that which is said to be at hand should prove vain and groundless; in the other there is the greatest loss, even the loss of salvation, if, when the time has come, it be shown that there was nothing false in what was declared.
Looking Down, Not Up, For the Eternity Bet
Eternity is forever and a long, long time. This is part of the appeal of the Pascal/Arnobius wager – spend a few dollars now, win not only millions, but everlasting heavenly mega millions. The wager’s focus has always been “up,” with heaven in mind.
But what about Hell? If Hell is infinite pain, agony, and suffering, and as eternal as an everlasting heaven, shouldn’t any thinking person avoid Hell, and the possibility of Hell, and bet that Hell exists as much as any thinking person should bet on heaven? Shouldn’t such a person live as if Hell is indeed forever?
God Says So
We have it on very good authority that there is a Hell and it is way, way more than a long, long time. Jesus, God the Son, told us:
Then he shall say to them also that shall be on his left hand: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels. (Mt 25:41)
God’s own words, given to us through the divine inspiration of St. Paul, St. Jude, and St. John, tell us:
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor 6:9,10).
Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”(Jude 1:7).
Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by its gates. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. (Revelation 22:14,15)
Mortal Sin
The Church, the Mystical Body Of Christ on earth, teaches and has always taught that there are two kinds of sin, venial and mortal.
If one commits unrepentant mortal sin, one will be condemned to Hell forever:
Mortal sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is love itself. It results in the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace, that is, of the state of grace. If it is not redeemed by repentance and God’s forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ’s kingdom and the eternal death of hell, for our freedom has the power to make choices for ever, with no turning back. (1861; Catechism of the Catholic Church).
Committing mortal sin is like betting that there is no eternal, everlasting Hell. Why would anyone with half a brain do that? Especially anyone who has the gift of faith? Some might out of arrogance; but others might do so because the shepherds chosen by God to bring them to Him lead them astray. The wicked shepherds turn into hirelings, or worse, wolves who assist the devil in devouring the faithful sheep. Who would do such a terrible thing?
Jorge Bergoglio
The man currently wearing papal white, Jorge Bergoglio, (placed in office by the illicit machinations of the St. Gallen Group, the “Gallen Mafia,” in violation of church procedures) has declared publicly – in his own words – “No one can be condemned forever.” (Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, section 297). He has refused to clarify these words, even when asked to do so by cardinals of Jesus’s Church. He has refused to explain how these words do not directly contradict the divinely-inspired words of God, or the clear teachings of Jesus’s Church.
There is so much more going on with the declaration of this bergoglian Hell heresy than its statement alone. If it is true, then the “mortal” sinfulness of any action is dissolved. There is no mortal sin.
That this is part of the heretical scheme is clear from Amoris Laetitia itself and from the subsequent actions, declarations, and interpretations of its bishop, priest, and lay supporters in dioceses and universities around the world. These include not only asserting that adultery, men acting effiminately, men sleeping with boys, and men voluntarily engaging in homosexual actions and sexual intercourse are not doing anything wrong or sinful; but that now such actions can and must be viewed as virtuous and as in accord with the will of God Himself. They are forming and furthering the Jorge denomination, they are not shepherding God’s faithful in Jesus’s Church.
The McC Wager
Any rational person must at the very least admit that Jorge Bergoglio might be wrong – and God might be right. You can believe God or you can believe Jorge Bergoglio. You cannot believe both. But you believe Jorge at your peril, and it is an eternal peril.
Since God has told us in undeniable, revealed truth that there is a Hell, and that it is everlasting, any rational person must “bet” that such a Hell could exist and do whatever is necessary so that they do not go there forever.
Hi Guy,
I’m not a big fan of Pascal’s Wager because it seems to imply that we can “fake it until we make it”, but God knows our hearts.
Also, you seem to imply that the current pontificate is invalid. True? Because you feel some of the voting cardinals did not follow Church procedures? Which procedures are you referring to?
Ben-I take it you agree Jorge B has proclaimed heresy?
Re the illicit election of Jorge B:
There are numerous sources for the facts re: the illicit attempt to elect Jorge Bergoglio pope. I say “attempt” because, if the election was illicit, he is not and never has been pope.
It was Card. Danneels who spilled the beans, before he died, and detailed how the Gallen Mafia had violated the rules for the election.
See e.g.:
Cardinal Danneels admits being part of clerical ‘Mafia’ that plotted …
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cardinal-danneel…Proxy Highlight
Sep 25, 2015 … …
Cardinal believed to have led the effort to elect Pope Francis dies …
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-st.-gal…Proxy Highlight
Sep 1, 2017 … Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor was one of the group of clericsdubbed the St . Gallen “mafia” by Cardinal Godfried Daneels. Its goal was to …
Cardinal Danneels Admits to Being Part of ‘Mafia’ Club Opposed to …
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/cardinal-dan…Proxy Highlight
Sep 24, 2015 …
Guy
Google illicit election Jorge Bergoglio.
Examples below:
1. The Illegitimate Pope: Election of Jorge Bergoglio as Pope Francis was contaminated by lobbying in violation of papal laws
Posted on September 12, 2015 by Dr. Eowyn | 47 Comments
https://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2015/09/12/the-illegitimate-pope-election-of-jorge-bergoglio-as-pope-francis-was-contaminated-by-lobbying-in-violation-of-papal-laws/
2. Cdl. Karl Lehmann passedaway Sundayat age 81
Church Militant https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/st.-gallen-mafia-cardinal-dies
by David Nussman • ChurchMilitant.com • March 12, 2018s
It appears the St. Gallen Group formed in the late 1990s to combat Pope St. John Paul II and then-Cdl. Joseph Ratzinger. At the time, Cdl. Ratzinger was known as one of the closest aids to the Holy Father. The St. Gallen Mafia was an informal group for high-ranking Catholic clergy with radical views, who were afraid that Cdl. Ratzinger would become the next Pope.
he secretive coalition supposedly threw its weight behind then-Cdl. Jorge Bergoglio in the 2005 conclave. They unsuccessfully opposed the election of Cdl. Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI. The St. Gallen Mafia backed Cdl. Bergoglio again at the 2013 conclave after Pope Benedict XVI resigned. Their 2013 campaign was successful, and then-Cdl. Bergoglio became Pope Francis.
Soon after Cdl. Danneels’ interview, his own authorized biographers backpedaled on these claims. The St. Gallen Mafia, according to the authors of Cdl. Danneels’ 2015 biography, did not campaign per se for the election of then-Cdl. Bergoglio. Rather, the group found that the Latin American cardinal was in line with their own goals for radical reform.
This type of organized campaigning for papal election during a conclave is technically forbidden. In chapter six of the 1996 Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis, Pope St. John Paul II issued a series of condemnations against various forms of politicking among the cardinal electors at conclaves.
The Supreme Pontiff warned, “The Cardinal electors shall further abstain from any form of pact, agreement, promise or other commitment of any kind which could oblige them to give or deny their vote to a person or persons.”
Such behavior, paragraph 82 of the Apostolic Constition continues, merits a latae sententiaeexcommunication. In other words, cardinals who act in that manner are automatically excommunicated.
The Church in Germany, headed by the likes of Cdl. Marx and the late Cdl. Lehmann, is spiritually and statistically barren. While raking in billions each year, thanks to the government’s Church tax, the Catholic Church in Germany is hemorrhaging laity by the hundreds of thousands each year, and suffering from declining vocations in its seminaries.
3. https://www.barnhardt.biz/2017/01/16/cutting-the-crap-31-questions-and-blunt-answers-about-the-catholic-church-and-antipope-bergoglio/
4. Cardinal Danneels admits: “Mafia” club brought down Benedict XVI to make Church “much more modern”
SEP 25, 2015 4:14 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2015/09/cardinal-danneels-admits-to-being-part-of-mafia-club-that-brought-down-benedict-xvi-to-make-church-much-more-modern
“You will believe in hell when you get there.” Mother Angelica. So will George Bergoglio
Guy,
Your first three links say “page not found”. The Nussman paste refers to organized campaigning to elect a pope, which is not allowed. Nussman then says that “Bergoglio became Pope Francis” which implies that even Nussman thinks he is Pope. In any case, I think this would get into what specific actions constitute, and who would police “various forms of politicking among the cardinal electors at conclaves.” Only the Holy Spirit could guide sinful men through such a mess.
Ben-Sorry re links not working, but google what I said –
illicit election Jorge Bergoglio –
and you can get the facts.
This Gallen Mafia did violate Church law; and although they tried to backpedal and erase their tracks from the Internet, they admitted what they did.
Re: “Only the Holy Spirit”: there is at least one other possibility, and he is one who would want and foment the “mess,” who would lead sinful men to do this, Satan.
In a sense, and it is hard to figure out why – stupidity? arrogance? turned to the dark side of the force? whatever – Jorge or his ghost writer in AL made the mistake of making one clear statement :
“No one can be condemned forever” –
They can blah-blah-blah everything else, but like HRH Hill “running in front of the bear” with her crystal clear statement re “deplorables,” Jorge cannot explain away the his Hell heresy.
Guy McClung, Texas
People are not betting on heaven and hell. Rather, they are choosing what gives them pleasure now – adultery, fornication, sodomy, lesbianism. They are like the alcoholic or drug addict who knows with certainty that that drink or drug will lead to prison, the insane asylum or death, but the alcoholic or addict has lost the power of choice to be sober. Indeed the behavior of people today caught in wickedness and immorality is just like an alcoholic’s or addict’s behavior. See Romans 7:13-25. Only God’s grace can break the chains of such addiction.
LQC, Ditto. I knnew a man, now in his 70s, who has a little brother who was diabetic, but who craved sugar. Tests have shown that sugar can be more addictive than cocaine or heroin. The brother, often, would eat all the candy, cake, pastries, doughnuts etc that he craved, and then test his blood sugar and shoot up with more insulin. This took its toll and he died at age 50, just before they were going to begin amputating his legs. Telling him what was going to happen made no difference. Guy McClung, Texas