Pascal's Wager: Looking At God From a Logic Standpoint

     I had actually never heard of this until a few days ago, but after doing some research, I feel this could be a necessary tool for witnessing to non-Christians.  To start, Pascal lived from 1623-1662, and was a well known mathematician, physicist, philosopher, and theologian.  He was also a Christian and an apologist.  However, in the area of theology, he is best known for this 'wager'.  In his book, the Pensees, he argued that while God’s existence cannot be known with rational certainty, it is nevertheless prudent to believe in God.  Pascal argued that either God exists or he does not exist. However, our present life, and possibly our future destiny, rests upon the alternative that we choose. Pascal reasoned that by believing in God (Christian theism), you have everything to win (in fact, you have eternal life to win) and nothing to lose. However, by not believing, you have nothing to win and everything to lose (in fact, you could lose your eternal soul). He therefore reasoned that if you consider what’s at stake, your best (or safer) wager is to believe in God.  Thus, Pascal's Wager.  The reason this could be such a valid point in arguing your case to a non-believer, is because logic is the only thing you can really use to argue your case.  When you think about it, if someone says "I don't believe in the Bible", but then you try to use the Bible as an argue point, what does that do?  Nothing!  This is why logic is necessary, and Pascal's Wager is perfect for the job.

Quote of the day:

"Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists." -Blaise Pascal