Inappropriate Argument
Summary
To gamble on the belief that God does exist because we thereby gain the chance of everlasting life, seems an inappropriate attitude to take to the question of God’s existence.
The philosopher and psychologist William James (1842–1910) went so far as to say that “if he were in God’s position, he would take great delight in preventing people who believed in him, on the basis of this procedure from going to heaven. The whole procedure seems insincere, and is entirely motivated by self-interest going against what God preached”.
