A Letter to a Cancer Patient
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Key Takeaways
- Cancer brings mixed uncertainty and emotions, emphasizing the value of life and the quest for meaning.
- Pascal’s Wager challenges us to consider the implications of our beliefs about God.
- Christianity is defined as a relationship with God through Christ, not just a set of rules.
- The author shares how faith offers hope and affirmation in difficult times, rooted in historical evidence.
- C. S. Lewis emphasizes the uniqueness of Christianity in understanding truth, suffering, and faith.
Dear Friend,
The Reality of Cancer
Over the last year and a half, you’ve had to balance optimism with the hard facts of cancer. You’ve likely felt fear, joy, guilt, resentment, despair, and the weight of the unknown. Suffering often reveals the true value of things we once took for granted.
Whether you fully recover or face what lies beyond this life, I want to share something meaningful. Years ago you advised me to research Turbo Pascal—a simple, adaptable, and powerful programming language. I did. Also, the name “Pascal” has grown even more significant to me because of Blaise Pascal himself, the name sake of before mentioned programming language.
Pascal’s Wager
Pascal, the father of binary mathematics, is also considered a founder of modern computer science. Binary is built on one essential truth table: on or off (1 or 0), yes or no, true or false.
Pascal applied that same logic to life’s greatest question—the existence of God. He wrote Pascal’s Wager, a challenge that still applies today:
- If Christianity is true and we commit to Christ, we gain everything.
- If Christianity is false, we still gain moral strength and purpose.
- But if Christianity is true and we reject it, we lose everything.
This wager matters because, of all the world’s religious leaders, only Christ claimed to be God and the only way to heaven (John 14:6). “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
Christ’s Impact On My Life
On October 12, 1974, I gave my life to Christ. I’d grown up hearing about Him, but that day I met Him personally. I used to think all religions were equally valid—or that I could invent my own—but I realized contradictory claims can’t all be right. [1]
My faith rests on historical evidence—the reliability of Scripture, the fulfillment of many prophecies about Jesus, and above all His resurrection. [2][3]
The Christian Faith Is Not A “Religion”
Christianity isn’t a list of rules or simply going to church (though regular attendance a good church is important). It’s a relationship with God through Christ. [4] When I prayed that prayer in 1974, there were no fireworks—just a quiet, real change as I began reading the Gospel of John and other books of the New Testament.
I don’t pretend to know why you have cancer. But Jesus promised, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies” (John 11:25 NASB).
A Treasure That Lasts
I’m not trying to preach doom and gloom; I want you to know the treasure I found—a hope that holds now and forever.
C. S. Lewis said it best at the end of his book, Mere Christianity:
“Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life, and you will save it… Look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.” [5]
Sincerely,
Your Friend,
Stuart Atkins
About the Author
Stuart Atkins is a retired marketing professional with over 25 years of experience in the high-technology industry and a former adjunct professor of marketing at Cal State Fullerton, where he taught for 17 years while also operating a small digital marketing agency. He holds an MBA and two degrees in theology and has written books on business and theology. He writes on Christian apologetics, history, economics, and worldview issues, drawing on both academic study and decades of professional experience. He is the founder of ChristianProofs.com.
Footnotes:
¹ Since all the world’s religions have conflicting views on essential doctrines, they cannot all be right. As C. S. Lewis put it: “There is only one right answer to a math problem.”
² Christianity is not man’s attempt to reach God, but God coming to man through Christ. Jesus often spoke against empty religious traditions. Christianity is not religion—it is relationship with the living God through Jesus.
³ Over 300 Old Testament prophecies about Christ were fulfilled in the New Testament. The odds of even 8 of these being fulfilled is 1 in 100 quadrillion. The fulfillment of dozens—many beyond Christ’s human control (such as His birthplace, betrayal, and death)—shows divine authorship.
⁴ The resurrection of Christ remains one of history’s most documented and authentic events. Attempts to disprove it have failed. Evidence from both Scripture and history points to it as fact, making Jesus’ claim to be God credible.
⁵ Lewis, C. S., Mere Christianity (New York: Macmillan, 1960).
