Pascal’s Wager

Have you heard of Blaise Pascal? I remembered hearing his name before but I came across him in something I read yesterday. Blaise Pascal was French mathematician, physicist, scientist, and philosopher. He was born in 1623 and died in 1662. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, he is known for laying the foundation for the theory of probabilities and “constructed a counting device-the Pascaline”. Being a scientist, he studied and tested the theories of Galileo and others and studied atmospheric pressure using a barometer. His studies and experiments led to what is known in science as Pascal’s principle. 

So being a student through the years in science, I remember studying about him in school. However, this is not what I wanted to write about today. Blaise Pascal was also a Christian and noted for having a controversy with the church or at least with the Jesuits. Pascal finally decided to write his work of Christian apologetics Apologie de la religion chrétienne, as a collection of his thoughts on miracles and other proofs of Christianity. His work remained unfinished at his death until his notes were put together and published under the name Pensee’s(or Thought’s). He wrote about the skeptic of God, Christianity and how he would be overcome by “the wager”. It became known as “Pascal’s Wager”. Pascal said that if God does not exist, then the skeptic did not lose anything by believing in Him through the Person of Jesus, however, if God does not exist then he would lose nothing by believing. He went on to say that if he believed and God does exist and salvation through Jesus, then he would gain eternal life in heaven with God. If the skeptic did not believe and God did exist, then his “wager” would cost him eternal punishment in hell. So, he said that anyone who used reason would concur that it was better to believe in God than not, even as a scientist who believed in reason rather than faith.

I have known and still know people who say they are an atheist and don’t believe in God. They say that they believe in science and the proofs of the existence of things in life that science and reason give us. They tell me that it is not ‘reasonable’ or that science can’t ‘prove’ there is a God. So they choose not to believe in God because it requires faith. If we listen to Pascal, who was a scientist who believed in reason, logic, and science, then we would agree that it would be better for everyone including the skeptic/atheist to believe in God. As an applied scientist in my training and work before retirement, I can say that if I had not personally known God through a relationship with Him through Jesus, then I too might have been a skeptic. However, by knowing Him, science and the order in the laws of nature that govern our lives, just increased my faith in Him. So, in conclusion, I would like everyone who reads this to think about and seriously consider what I have said. If you seek Him, you will find Him.