Forgiveness

Message / Question

Dr Dave, I have heard of criminals who have to believe in a "God" because they would go insane if they were not able to access forgiveness... So my question is whether God helps "evil" Christians, and if so, how is that fair to the atheist who is kindhearted???

Response

Forgiveness is a basic need of a balanced mind, mental health can certainly be affected very negatively if a person carries a sense of guilt. Your question implies that some criminals have a “fake” belief in God – i.e. they just do what they need to do in order to feel a sense of forgiveness, but they do not have a genuinely life changing encounter and subsequent relationship with God. That may well be the case, however no-one could make the assumption that none of their “conversions” were real, it would be an individual thing – my guess is that there are some fake conversions but there are also some very real and genuine ones as well. Regardless of their past, people may turn to God and seek His forgiveness for all of their sins – even those that were truly evil. Is that fair to the “good” atheist? The simple reality is that the atheist makes a choice not to believe. I two people were bitten by a deadly snake and an antidote was available, but only one took the antidote whilst the other refused to believe that it would work and refused it, the problem would not lie with the antidote, rather it rests with the individual’s choice. Sin is a deadly disease, God offers the only antidote to its consequence. If a “criminal” takes the antidote but an atheist refuses, that is entirely a matter of their personal choice, it’s not a matter of “fair” or unfair – the same choice is given to both.