''There is no more unattractive type of “Christian” than the deathbed ghoul. That is, the person who hears about an agnostic or atheist who is sick and dying, and gleefully rushes to to their side to taunt them with visions of nothingness or threats of hellfire.
The object is to see if — in their weakened and pain-wracked state — they can be harried into any sign of fear or doubt regarding their fate. If they can, this will be claimed as some kind of victory, though what kind is unclear to me.
Anyway, James Boswell tried to do this to David Hume. Later, Boswell related the results in his journal. It’s worth reading the whole thing but I’ve extracted some passages here.
After ranging through discussions on what Hume saw as the ridiculousness of a future eternal state, of the gloominess of Hell, and almost joking about all of these, then according to Boswell’s account it was not Hume who was fearful, but Boswell.''
