http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal's_Wager
The Wager is described by Pascal in the Pensées this way:
God is, or He is not. But to which side shall we incline? Reason can decide nothing here. There is an infinite chaos which separated us. A game is being played at the extremity of this infinite distance where heads or tails will turn up...Which will you choose then? Let us see. Since you must choose, let us see which interests you least. You have two things to lose, the true and the good; and two things to stake, your reason and your will, your knowledge and your happiness; and your nature has two things to shun, error and misery. Your reason is no more shocked in choosing one rather than the other, since you must of necessity choose. This is one point settled. But your happiness? Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is.
2006-11-05 10:42:26 · 10 answers · asked by DREAMER 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Questor!
good question!
I believe I AM... however the reality is you have to KNOW IT!
You identify the problem, belief faith is not enough, so how does ONE come to know THE ONE?
Faith in something is completely different to knowing something
are You about to find out :-)
So yes a leap of faith is absolutely equivalent to Pascal's wager
SO I give you the three alternatives...
a) Don’t bother yourself trying to understand anything
b) Live in disillusion with faith
c) Seek until you find the truth and KNOW it.
Are you one who only asks questions you know the answer to, I think so.
2006-11-05 15:56:23 · answer #1 · answered by James 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Not always. Sometimes you have to have faith about things besides just whether God is. But, yes, for some people, belief in God and in Jesus Christ is the greatest leap of faith you could ever make. Although, it really doesn't have to take any faith to believe in it, because there is so much tangible evidence toward it. Check out some of the other recent questions I've been answering if you want to look at some of it. And read the book Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis. It will change your life if you haven't read it already.
2006-11-05 11:03:05 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Then again you might put your faith in a wrong God and really piss off the God you rejected but who turns out to be the real God, the atheist would possibly stand a better chance than the believer who worshipped the wrong God in this circumstance. Pascal's Wager is a bit crap really.
2006-11-05 10:49:59 · answer #3 · answered by CHEESUS GROYST 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not at all. Those who repeat Pascal's Wager forget, or are too arrogant, to apply the wager to their own beliefs.
2016-05-22 02:07:16 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
An agnostic theist is a person that affirms an inability to know about the non-existence of a deity or deities and claims that this inability along with a desire to be happy and healthy leads to a belief. Agnostic theists who believe in a good one in Heaven at war with an evil one cast down and ruling over Earth cause me to wonder: Why would they choose a model of self and world divided by a spiritual conflict? If their desire is to be happy and healthy then I recommend that agnostic theists combine a foundation of truth and knowledge about self and world based on scientifically reproducible discovery that produces the most powerful physiological responses of good health possible; with a framkwork of myth and fantasy about self and world based on the mystery of existence that produces the most powerful emotional responses of joy, faith and love imaginable; to create a model of self and world unified by Mother God; an infinity, divinty, eternally, one; Father Love; an infinite seed body of large universes of the correct kind to support living infernal fractal entities; and their Soul Children, divine and eternal, ordering chaos of minds, enjoying entertainment derived from bodies that live and die.
2006-11-05 10:50:43 · answer #5 · answered by H.I. of the H.I. 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You are over looking one important fact. Suppose you are praying to the wrong god? What is Zeus is the right god and you are praying to a false god [e.g. jesus]. Would Zeus take that in a gracious manner? Pascal is a flawed train of thought. Don't worry how ever all gods are make belief and are imaginary. P.S: thanks for the 10 points
2006-11-05 10:53:30 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
No,a leap of faith is betting your life ,that what you are commiting it to ,is true and worth your life.Also,it is a leap of faith in practical terms,not just a play on words and logic.
2006-11-05 10:48:28 · answer #7 · answered by ? 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Not really, you can have a leap of faith in matters that do not pertain to god or religion.
2006-11-05 10:44:45 · answer #8 · answered by fourmorebeers 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes
2006-11-05 10:46:33 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes. Why not ?
2006-11-05 11:19:17 · answer #10 · answered by Nicolette 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋