As America and the world experiences the suffering and death from the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, some of the saddest quotes you could ever read are historic last words of infamous atheists. Some are defiant as they shake their fist at God one final time and some are distraught, realizing that they are about to face judgment from the God who really does exist.

Here is a sampling.

  • Joseph Coveney, American atheist: “I die as I live. I disbelieve in God, the Bible, and the Christian religion.”
  • Karel Soucek, Canadian stuntman: “There is no Heaven or Hell; there is no God. It is all a myth. You’re born, you live, one day you die and that is it.”
  • Christopher Hitchens, British-American author: “If I convert, it is because it is better that a believer dies than an atheist does.”
  • Sigmund Freud, psychiatrist: “Now it is nothing but torture and makes no sense anymore.”
  • Karl Marx, Social revolutionary: “Go on get out. Last words are for fools who have not said enough.”
  • Thomas Hobbs political philosopher: “I say again, if I had the whole world at my disposal, I would give it to live one day. I am about to take a leap into the dark.”
  • Voltaire famous anti-Christian atheist: “I am abandoned by God and man; I will give you half of what I am worth if you will give me six months’ life.”

He said this to his doctor, who told him it could not be done.

“Then I shall die and go to Hell!”

His nurse said: “For all the money in Europe I wouldn’t want to see another unbeliever die! All night long he cried for forgiveness.”

  • Napoleon Bonaparte, the French emperor, who brought death to millions to satisfy his selfish ambitions for world conquest: “I die before my time, and my body will be given back to the earth. Such is the fate of him who has been called the great Napoleon. What an abyss between my deep misery and the eternal kingdom of Christ!”
  • David Strauss, a representative of German rationalism, spent his lifetime erasing belief in God from others: “My philosophy leaves me utterly forlorn! I feel like one caught in the merciless jaws of an automatic machine, not knowing at what time one of its great hammers may crush me!”
  • Thomas Payne, a leading atheistic writer in American colonies: “Stay with me, for God’s sake; I cannot bear to be left alone,  O Lord, help me! O God, what have I done to suffer so much? What will become of me hereafter?
    “I would give worlds if I had them, that The Age of Reason had never been published. O Lord, help me! Christ, help me! …No, don’t leave; stay with me! Send even a child to stay with me; for I am on the edge of Hell here alone. If ever the Devil had an agent, I have been that one.”

Now contrast that with the dying words of some Christians.

  • John Bunyan (1628-1688), an English Christian writer: “Weep not for me, but  for yourselves. The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, through the  mediation of His blessed Son, receives me, though a sinner. We shall  meet to sing the new song, and remain everlastingly happy.”
  • Charles Dickens (1812-1870), English novelist: “I commit my soul to the mercy of God, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
  • –  William Wilberforce (1759-1833) abolitionist:
  • “My affections are so much in Heaven that I can leave you all without a regret; yet I do not love you less, but God more.”
  • D. L. Moody: “I see earth receding; Heaven is opening. God is calling me.”
  • Martin Luther: “Into Thy hands I commend my spirit! Thou hast redeemed me, O God of truth.”
  • John Knox said these words and then died, “Live in Christ, die in Christ, and the flesh need not fear death.
  • Jesus said, “It is finished.”

Actually, that is what Jesus said on the cross. The resurrected Jesus gave His disciples the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20:  “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Notice the contrast? Someone who rejects God, when facing death, has no hope. Their best result would be an end with no more existence.

This is why those who trust in Christ can face the end of this earthly life with the expectation of eternity in God’s presence.

This is the choice everyone must eventually face. And there is an urgency because no one is promised another day.