The atheist asked the priest... because the priest that day said in his sermon that people who believe in God and do virtuous deeds go to heaven, and those who do not believe in God, sinners, go to hell. The atheist raised his hand and said:
- Sir, then one question needs to be resolved. What happens to people who don’t believe in God but do virtuous acts—where will they end up? And what happens to those who believe in God but commit sins - where will they end up?
The priest, naturally, was confused. If you say that virtuous people will go to hell just because they don't believe in God, it doesn't seem right. What is the point of being virtuous then? If he says that people who believe in God and yet commit sins will go to heaven, then simply believing is enough. Then God is not interested in your actions. You can kill, you can be Genghis Khan or Adolf Hitler, if you believe in God.
And Adolf Hitler believed in God, and Genghis Khan believed in God: before he brutally killed thousands of people, he read the Koran every morning.
The priest must have been a very sensitive, alert person, he said:
- Please give me time. This is a very difficult question. I'll answer next Sunday.
For the priest, these seven days were real hell; No matter how he tried, nothing worked. Sunday came, and he knew that the atheist would come for an answer, but it was humiliating not to appear himself. And he came a little earlier and prayed to Jesus Christ:
- Help me! I am Your servant, I spoke on Your behalf. Now help me - give me a hint.
Praying to Christ - he did not sleep for seven days, thinking all day and night - he fell asleep in front of the statue of Christ and had a dream. In a dream, he saw a train ready to go to heaven. He jumped into it and said:
- This is very good, why don’t I go there myself and see with my own eyes? If I see Adolf Hitler, Genghis Khan and Tamerlane in heaven, the issue will be resolved. Or, if I see Socrates, who did not believe in God, but was one of the most virtuous people, if I kill Gautama Buddha, who did not believe in God, but was one of the most God-like people who ever walked the earth, the issue will be resolved.
He hurried to the train, and the train started moving. He reached heaven. He was a little surprised, puzzled, because heaven didn't look like heaven at all; he was very dull, sad and dull - no joy, nothing sunny, no song. He heard so much about angels who play harps, sing and dance all the time. No harps, no singing, no dancing. Just a few stupid looking saints under the dusty trees.
He made inquiries, approached the station manager and asked:
- Is there any mistake? Is this really heaven?
“Yes, this is paradise,” he answered.
- But this is more like hell! - said the priest. - Is there any train going to hell? I would like to see hell too so I could compare.
A place was reserved for him, and he went to hell - and was even more surprised than at the sight of heaven. It was joyful there, music was playing and songs were sung - everything was sunny and bright. People worked, there was light in their eyes. There is no devil, no hellfire, no one is torturing anyone - nothing like that. And he said:
- It's more like heaven.
And the station master replied:
- Yes, indeed, very similar, but before everything was very similar to how your sacred scriptures describe it. But since Buddha, Mahavira and Socrates came here, everything has changed.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru