“a simply leap of faith can ensure eternity”
And that’s the nub. I cannot make myself believe something so as to get a reward. My beliefs are based on life experience, and the mythology of milennia-old desert dwellers is insufficiently empirical.
Can you really make yourself believe something? I’m not sure I can. I am either convinced by reason or I am not. It’s not exactly voluntary.
[Can you really make yourself believe something?]
God doesn’t mind disbelief as long as the person is honest- heck, one of hte gretest christian converts was doubting Thomas as he was rightfully called. Doubting Thomas absolutely refused to beleive unless he saw for his own eyes- Christ did not rebuke him for his honesty, He welcomed it. Tell God flat out you don’t believe and ask that if He be real, that He change that.
And just for the record- it’s not done to ‘get a reward’- True, a reward does come with it, however, the reward itself is not the reason to seek, infact, it is an impediment if that’s the real motivation as it obscures the real issue at work- the ultimate confession that God is God and we are creations in need of God and a Savior