I think this kind of thing is very interesting and it’s one of the things I like to think about for fun. I think a lot of other people enjoy thinking about this stuff too, so here you go. I hope you enjoy it.

When used to consider a list of religions that have a concept of heaven or hell, my conjecture should (hopefully) conclusively lead to either exactly zero, one, or two religions being possibly correct. However, it only works for religions that at least have a concept of heaven or a concept of hell. Religions do not need to have both though.

The Conjecture

1. Heaven is the best, most desirable place.
2. Different religions describe heaven differently.
3. Only one can be the most attractive of all.
4. Only the religion with the most appealing heaven can possibly be correct.
5. Hell is the worst, least desirable place.
6. Different religions describe hell differently.
7. Only one can be the most repulsive of all.
8. Only the religion with the least appealing hell can possibly be correct.
9. Any religion that has both a concept of heaven and a concept of hell must have both the most attractive heaven and the most repulsive hell out of all religions.

Different people have different opinions about what makes one thing better or worse than another. My conjecture purposely avoids trying to impose any particular conclusion. The intention is only to provide another method for individuals to narrow down the list of possibly correct religions, nothing more.

The only time there can be two religions being possibly correct is when a religion that only has a concept of heaven has the “best” heaven and a religion that only has a concept of hell has the “worst” hell. This is because their claims do not overlap, and thus do not require believers to choose which is “best” or “worst.”

If my conjecture is unoriginal, then I would love to hear the name of whatever argument it is so that I can study it more and read about famous philosopher’s conclusions about it. If my conjecture is original but needs some kind of adjustment (or if you see a way to flat out disprove it), then please let me know. That’s part of the fun for me, and I don’t take it personally, nor will it “hurt my ego” or anything like that. And if you can simplify it or can think of a good name for it, then I’m all ears. Thanks.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 16th, 2009 at 9:32 pm and is filed under All Entries. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.