Deathbed Conversions
Occasionally updated and edited. Copyright © 2011

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Deathbed conversions. There's a lot of them.

But do they lend credibility to the existence of God?

I say, "No."

Here's why.

? A dying atheist may pretend to convert to religion as a gesture to believing friends and relatives.

? A dying atheist may experience an 'out of body' hallucination as his oxygen-starved brain confuses delusion with reality.

? Tales of deathbed conversions may be concocted.

Like urban legends, tales of famous atheists confessing the bogusness of their faithlessness set well with those who want to believe. Christians who are dismayed with the proposition that anyone could consciously face death without acknowledging God are vulnerable to believing deathbed conversion legends.

One of the most famous such legends was that of Charles Darwin who, supposedly, confided in Lady Hope during the final days of his life. Darwin, the legend goes, denounced the theory of evolution.

Darwin's son said the story of his father's conversion is untrue. Darwin's daughter claimed to be present when her father died. "The whole story has no foundation whatever," she said.

-- September 3, 2011