The death of Dilbert creator Scott Adams has caused a bit of a stir. Adams was something of a quirky fellow, and in his final note said that while he did not have faith in God, he found Pascal’s Wager compelling. He therefore stated that he professed Jesus Christ to be his lord and savior so that he would avoid damnation, and if heaven is real, he hoped to see Jesus there.
By and large, Catholics seem to have taken this as a good thing, perhaps because the experience of a deathbed conversion is so bound up in Catholic tradition.
One of the most poignant moments in Brideshead Revisited, indeed the turning point of the story, is the decision of Lord Marchmain to finally make a sign of faith rather than dying outside of the Church.
I recall being a sponsor in what was then called the Right of Christian Initiation for Adults, and explaining that even Joseph Stalin could have been saved from hell if he had made a profession of faith while he was dying.
This caused quite a stir, because people figure that it is just a cop-out a way of avoiding much-deserved eternal punishment. But there is something deeper going on.
God wants to save all of us, and when a sinner repents at the last moment, that still counts as a victory. We should not wish to give the devil any victories, no matter how satisfying it might be to our personal sense of justice.
There is also the fact that Catholics believe in Purgatory, which by all accounts is not a pleasant place to be. As I said during that discussion, just because you are spared from hell does not mean that you get a free pass. Stalin would answer for his sins, and experience true remorse and true contrition.
Moreover, there is the example of St. Dismas, the Good Thief who repented on the cross next to Jesus. He was not baptized, by his own accounted deserved his punishment, but asked for mercy and received it.
Critics are saying that Adams’ admission that he has no faith is disqualifying, but to me that makes his profession even more prayerful. He could not find it within himself to have faith, so as a dying man he asked God to help him.
Deathbed conversions are not a form of cheating. God can read their hearts, and knows his own. What is important was that he listened to people of faith and decided to throw in his lot with Jesus, even if he couldn’t believe.
As for the argument that he’s just trying to avoid hell, that’s actually a very valid reason to convert. It is stressed many times in the Gospels. After all, wisdom begins with fear of the Lord.
May he rest in peace.
Chateau Lloyd 
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