GwynJ,
I think your argument for belief in God is invalid: "am I willing to bet my soul on it?"
It would be an evil God who would create a universe that appears to be formed and operate according to natural laws, that would create a world in 6 days, without using evolution, but then put evidence for a much longer age for both the Earth and the evolutionary development of life, and then expect us to ignore the scientific evidence in favor of the miraculous beliefs of superstitious shepherds, fishermen, etc. from thousands of years ago.
It would be an evil God who would cast our souls into everlasting hell because we could not determine which of many contradictory religions was the true one and because the best evidence pointed to a universe without God.
If this were God, it would suggest that he doesn't like people who think very much, intending to trick them into going to hell. God (or at least religious leaders) prefer gullible people who are more like sheep than goats.
If God is good then he certainly would forgive scientists for accepting the evidence he put there suggesting he doesn't exist and he would forgive atheists for refusing to obey him while they were on Earth.
In other words, someone who does not accept God because scientific evidence suggests otherwise is not in danger of losing their salvation, even if God exists, unless God is evil.
What do you think? |