Look at what Jesus said in Mat 25 in the parable of the sheep and the goats. even those who recognized him as Lord were sent away.
Believing what someone else tells you, and accepting traditions created and taught by men, is not a great path to the truth.
I found that this is incorrect. Of course, I can’t convince anyone of that, since all I have is my own experience as evidence, but that evidence is compelling.
Bingo. Doyle has Holmes say, “when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” This is just about the most stupid thing Holmes ever said. While strictly true, it’s impossible to apply in practice. It applies only when all possibilities can be enumerated, which I find is very rarely the case, in the real world. Even when debugging computer programs, where everything is digital and the options should be enumerable (or it’s a hardware issue, not my problem!), the real answer turns out to be something that wasn’t even on the radar screen.
Bingo. I’m pretty sure I’m not in this category, because I’m not terribly certain that what I believe is true. I’m nearly certain that there are things I’m convinced of that are false. Now if only I could figure out which …
I’m pretty sure I’ll never get a chance to say “See? I TOLD you!” regarding life after death. I think I can count on that as solid.
Did the OP ever answer his own (very good) question? I’ve enjoyed many of the thoughtful replies.