The Wager, part 1

Pascal's
Pensées
Week 3 - July 31, 2014


How is your reading going?  Have you read pense #233 yet, the one that features "The Wager?"  Over the next few weeks I'll be focusing on this one topic, since it's far and away the most famous of the entire collection.

We start with the set up before the discussion of the wager.

Have you ever tried to prove to someone that there is a God?  Someone might have revealed to us that they don't believe, or asked us about our reason for believing.  Perhaps we've tried to prove God's existence for ourselves during an episode of doubt.  If you've tried, you've probably failed at some level.  It's not your fault.  It's that the very nature of the God we believe in is beyond human understanding.  If God was fully explainable, God wouldn't be God!  That puts us in a conundrum when we try to state our reasons for believing.

Before he introduces us to the wager, Pascal makes the point that believers are being entirely reasonable in not being able to prove that God exists.  If you haven't noticed by now, as a mathematician Pascal is really into logic.  He uses logic to defend why Christians can't prove the existence of God.  Think of it as a formula:

God is incomprehensible
+
Christians not being able to give a fully comprehensible explanation of God
=
This makes total sense!

The bottom line is this: if we could convince people of God's existence with demonstrable proofs, then the God we believe in would not exist.  There is inherent mystery in the Christian belief in God (as in other religions, I might add).  This fact drives some people crazy.  While we should use this fact to excuse us from giving a reasonable explanation for our faith, our reasonable explanations should always include the truth that ultimately we can't fully explain God.

Pense #233
Penguin, p. 121 (Section 2, II.418)
Classic, p. 66

"Let us now speak according to natural lights. 

If there is a God, He is infinitely incomprehensible, since, having neither parts nor limits, He has no affinity to us.  We are then incapable of knowing either what He is or if He is.  This being so, who will dare to undertake the decision of the question? Not we, who have no affinity to Him.

Who then will blame Christians for not being able to give a reason for their belief, since they profess a religion for which they cannon give a reason?  They declare, in expounding it to the world, that it is a foolishness, and then you complain that they do not prove it!  If they proved it, they would not keep their word; it is in lacking proofs, that they are not lacking in sense."


Reflection Questions:
Feel free to use the comments link below to post your thoughtful responses

• What's your experience of trying to "defend the faith?"

• What do you think skeptics are looking for in their questioning?  Do you think they'll ever find what they're looking for? 

• How do you experience the "incomprehensibility" of God?  Does it bring you anxiety, comfort, or both?

• What spiritual practices help you reflect upon the mysteries of a God who is beyond human comprehension?