Pascal’s Wager

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), a brilliant French philosopher and mathematician, is known for many of his contributions and theories. In apologetics, his highlighting effort is his ‘Wager’. (Summary to follow)

“Since a choice must be made, we must see which is the least bad. You have two things to lose: truth and happiness. You have two things at stake: your reason and your happiness. And you have two things to avoid: error and misery. Since you must necessarily choose, your reason is no more affronted by choosing one rather than the other. How about your happiness? Let us weigh up the gain and loss in calling heads that God exists. If you win, you win everything. If you lose, you lose nothing. So do not hesitate; wager that God exists.”
[Pascal in a Nutshell (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1997), 66-67.]

Want the simpler version? Pascal says something like this: The only way to be sure that God doesn’t exist is by seeking him out. If you don’t seek him out and you’re Worldview is Wrong, you’re up-the-creek. You’ve not only lost God’s blessings here on earth, but eternal joy, peace, love, etc. You’ll spend the rest of your existence away from God, which just so happens to be in a not-so-fun place. For the non-Christian, you’re better off making sure that God doesn’t exist. You have a lot to lose if you’re wrong. On the other hand, if God doesn’t exist the Christian has lost little. They will just die like everyone else.

Choice & Belief

From critics, there is one main objection raised: If I ‘choose’ God, I might not necessarily believe in Him. This isn’t what Pascal was talking about. Pascal was arguing that you should make sure that God doesn’t exist by seeking him out. God promises to reach out to those who seek him. Pascal knew this. When you seek God, you’ll find him. If you don’t seek him, well, you’ll never find what you don’t look for. If you seek him and find nothing, then you’ve lost nothing.

“It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

~ by johnfoxe on May 22, 2008.