Scott Adams passed away on Tuesday after it was announced he was going into hospice care, ending the life of the famous cartoonist. During his anticipated death, Scott Adams wrestled with the eternal matters, ultimately planning a death bed conversion to Christianity. Having passed away on Tuesday, we read his final words, which provide an update on his spiritual plans.
A Final Message From Scott Adams
If you are reading this, things did not go well for me.
I have a few things to say before I go.
My body failed before my brain. I am of sound mind as I write this, January 1st, 2026. If you wonder about any of my choices for my estate, or anything else, please know I am free of any coercion or inappropriate influence of any sort. I promise.
Next, many of my Christian friends have asked me to find Jesus before I go. I’m not a believer, but I have to admit the risk-reward calculation for doing so looks attractive.
So, here I go:
I accept Jesus Christ as my lord and savior, and I look forward to spending an eternity with him. The part about me not being a believer should be quickly resolved if I wake up in heaven. I won’t need any more convincing than that. And I hope I am still qualified for entry.
These words were drafted before the video that Adams put out.
Jason Whitlock reacted to the note stating:
Just seeing this final note. I apologize for being this guy, but this note is problematic. It mocks Jesus Christ and Christianity. Not a fan at all. This isn’t the Thief on the Cross. This is a Thief.
First, Jason Whitlock should be commended for being willing to be “that guy.” The window for courage on speaking out about this is now, not in a few weeks.
Scott Adams shows the theological fallaciousness of Pascal’s Wager. The philosophical exercise is as follows: If one believes in God and God exists, the reward is infinite (eternal salvation or bliss). If one believes in God and God does not exist, the cost is finite and relatively minor (foregone pleasures). If one disbelieves in God and God exists, the penalty is infinite (eternal damnation). If one disbelieves in God and God does not exist, the gain is finite and minor (e.g., unrestricted earthly pursuits). Thus, Pascal concludes that the prudent choice is to wager on belief, as the potential upside vastly outweighs the downside, even in the face of uncertainty.
Scott Adams had the luxury, some might call it, of knowing his time was near and settling his affairs on earth. Thus, he had the ability to implement Pascal’s Wager in the wild.
But Pascal’s Wager does not save. Christianity is not true by virtue of begrudging belief. Jason Whitlock contrasts Scott Adams with the thief on the cross. This thief knew the heaviness of his sins and turned to the Savior. And while Scott Adams likely did not understand basic theological concepts (I don’t mean this as a dis), his admission of not being a believer yet accepting Jesus because of the cost-benefit analysis is not rooted in repentance.
John 3:16, the most basic Bible verse that most people know: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” A more precise understanding of believes is “all who were believing” as it is an active, ongoing verb. This is to say that belief is not a mere acknowledgement of truth. Belief is a life-defining action, even if it comes at the bitter end.
Another missing component here is faith. We are justified by grace through faith. Perhaps Adams was wrestling with doubts. But faith is what causes our belief. We do not have faith as a get out of hell free card or a ticket to Heaven in the afterlife.
Perhaps Scott Adams had a more sincere faith than his final words indicated. But it must be said: salvation is not a joke. Faith is not a trivial pursuit to be taken lightly. And of course, not everyone gets to anticipate their demise and make Pascal’s Wager with lucidity. Celebrity deaths often encourage people to contemplate their own mortality, and the gospel, not Pascal’s Wager, is what saves.
7 Responses
There are at least two problems for anyone planning a just in time deathbed conversion to Christianity:
1) No one knows the day or hour, and
2) God knows your heart
That said, I hope to meet brother Scott in joy someday.
Well it’s not me that has to be convinced about his conversion. Perhaps he was just hedging his bets. He mocked God his whole life so, there is that.
Yes, he maybe was sincere and I hope he so. But deathbed conversions do not bring much to the table or should I say the Bema Seat.
He may slide into Glory as a pauper. Yes I know, “Salvation in faith alone, by Grace alone lest any man should boast of his own works.”
With God nothing is impossible and there is a faint hope clause in which God says” I will have compassion on whom I will, and Mercy on whom I will.”
Most will never have the luxury of waiting until the last minute to choose Jesus.
Great, sobering post. Thank you.
In regards to the thief on the cross, it must be remembered that he was nailed to it. His deathly situation prevented him from doing any “good works” that Ephesians 2:10 demands; nether could he have been “water baptized” (Mark 16:16) – if that was another requirement for Salvation on the day.
In contrast to this, today’s Christians have been told by their ministry leaders that all one has to do is accept Christ as their Savior “in faith”; be water baptized and live the Christian life – whatever that realistically means. On the contrary, there are many “conditions” mentioned in the Bible that Christians must meet if they sincerely hope to obtain Salvation after they die.
One significant requirement in the Bible is to become as “…holy as God is holy” as stated in 1 Peter 1:16 (KJV). The writer of Hebrews (12:14-16) states that if Christians fail to meet God’s required standard of HOLINESS, that such Christians will “never see the Lord”. That means NO Salvation because this one condition was not met.
Jesus warned God’s children in Matthew 24:4-5 that in these ‘last days’ they need to, “…Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many [false preachers] shall come in my [Christ’s] name, saying, I am [sent of Jesus] Christ; and shall deceive many.”
With AI adding another layer to the deceptions that can be found everywhere today, it is now more than ever that Christians need to be comparing what they are told with what their Bible tells them – just as the Bible records the Bereans doing in their day (Acts 17:11).
This is a declaration of bankruptcy for American Evangelicalism, as they completely failed to tell the gospel to this poor soul.
He believed until his last minute that conversion just like works like Islam: You say the magic words, you become a Muslim, you push the suicide button (assisted death contrary to Christian teaching) and your 72 virgins are waiting for you.
This is not how it works, but nobody was able to tell him that. Now his only way out is Catholic Purgatory. There is literally no way to redeem his soul from a Reformed perspective.
“”This is a declaration of bankruptcy for American Evangelicalism, as they completely failed to tell the gospel to this poor soul.””
Unfortunately, the only things that American Evangelical “Christianity” stands for these days are zionism, the gaza genocide, jew worship, support of earthly imposter “israel”, holocaust groveling, miscegenation (for the goyim, not for the jews), and open borders.
American Evangelical “Christianity” has turned into something ugly, disgusting and repulsive: essentially a judeo-supremacist political ideology masquerading as a religion, with a very thin “Christian” coat of paint.
Increasingly, Jesus Christ is being pushed to the side and airbrushed out of American Evangelical “Christianity”, which serves jewish interests far more than it serves Jesus.
If you listen to the average American Evangelical televangelist or megachurch pastor, you would come away believing that salvation comes from worshiping the jews and supporting “israel.”
Considering the above, it’s not surprising that many people are turning away from evangelical “Christianity”.
American corporate megachurch-style evangelical “Christianity” is NOT real Christianity, but the corrupt debased American evangelical version of “Christianity” is so pervasive in the USA that many Americans understandably think that is what Christianity really is.
So it’s hard to blame people for turning away.
The corruption of Christianity by the traitorous false teachers is NOT a victimless crime: MANY good people are becoming disgusted by Christianity and are turning away and losing their salvation, all because the false teachers have turned mainstream modern “Christianity” into a hideous monstrosity.
Christianity needs a systemic and thorough top-to-bottom purge, with all of the heretical zionists and “judeo-christians” cast out, excommunicated, and anathematized.
Jason Whitlock says: “Just seeing this final note. I apologize for being this guy, but this note is problematic. It mocks Jesus Christ and Christianity. Not a fan at all. This isn’t the Thief on the Cross. This is a Thief.”
I disagree with Whitlock.
Jesus says that anyone who believes in Him as Lord and Savior, will be saved and enjoy eternal life in Heaven.
Jesus DOESN’T say that certain motivations for believing in Him make His Offer of salvation invalid.
Thus, if someone (such as Scott Adams) chooses to believe in Jesus simply out of a desire to get into Heaven, that is enough to be saved.
Indeed, the thief on the cross probably was motivated to believe in Jesus simply by the hope that maybe he could have something good after he died, a better life than he had on earth.
Whitlock, with his complaining about Adams’ deathbed conversion, reminds me of the Parable of the laborers in the vineyard who were complaining that they worked all day and were given the same wages as the latecomers who only worked for a short amount of time.
Who is Whitlock to say that Adams is a thief because he converted on his deathbed to avoid going to hell?
Heaven belongs to God, and God gets to decide who is allowed in, and God says that anyone who believes in Him will be saved.