set em up bartender,a Pascals Wager Q?

Question

the wager doesn't say anything about believing in the divinity of Jesus or the Christian version of the concept of God,does it?Also,when a Christian uses it against an atheist,aren't they being liars by omission.?I believe in God.so i win?!

Answer 1

Pascal wrote:
Either God is or he is not. But to which view shall we be inclined? Reason cannot decide this question. Infinite chaos separates us. At the far end of this infinite distance a coin is being spun which will come down heads or tails. How will you wager? Reason cannot make you choose either, reason cannot prove either wrong. . . .
Yes, but you must wager. There is no choice, you are already committed. Which will you choose then? Let us see: since a choice must be made, let us see which offers you the least interest. 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 avoid: error and wretchedness. . . . Let us weigh up the gain and the loss involved in calling heads that God exists. Let us assess the two cases: if you win you win everything, if you lose you lose nothing. Do not hesitate then; wager that he does exist. . . .
“I confess, I admit it, but is there really no way of seeing what the cards are?” “Yes. Scripture and the rest, etc.” “Yes, but my hands are tied and my lips are sealed; I am being forced to wager and I am not free; I am being held fast and I am so made that I cannot believe. What do you want me to do then?” “That is true, but at least get it into your head that, if you are unable to believe, it is because of your passions, since reason impels you to believe and yet you cannot do so. Concentrate then not on convincing yourself by multiplying proofs of God’s existence but by diminishing your passions. You want to find faith and you do not know the road. You want to be cured of unbelief and you ask for the remedy: learn from those who were once bound like you and who now wager all they have. These are people who know the road you wish to follow, who have been cured of the affliction of which they began. They behaved just as if they did believe, taking holy water, having masses said, and so on. That will make you believe quite naturally, and will make you more docile.” “But that is what I am afraid of.” “But why? What have you to lose? But to show you that this is the way, the fact is that this diminishes the passions which are your great obstacles. . . .
I tell you that you will gain even in this life, and that at every step you take along this road you will see that your gain is so certain and your risk so negligible that in the end you will realize that you have wagered on something certain and infinite for which you have paid nothing."

According to Pascal’s wager, one cannot lose by wagering that God and immortality exist. Even if one cannot prove God nor an after life, it is a good bet to believe in him. We have nothing to lose. If God does not exist, the life of the believer is a great life anyway. If he does exist, then so much the more. Not only is this life great but the one to come will be even greater. So, believing in God and a life to come is a good bet, both for this life and the one to come.
The wager cannot be avoided. We must either believe in God or not. Since we can’t avoid betting, the odds overwhelmingly favor betting on God.
The game of life must be played. Even those who end their life, must play the game; they only shorten its duration. But assuming there is no God to meet beyond the grave is a big gamble—one not worth taking. But assuming there is a God is a gamble not worth missing. For believing there is a God pays in this life for sure and possibly in the next. But assuming there is no God brings unhappiness in this life and the possibility of more to come. In Pascal’s own words, “That leaves no choice; wherever there is infinity, and where there are not infinite chances of losing against that of winning, there is no room for hesitation, you must give everything.”

Answer 2

Pascal's Wager isn't about Christianity, it is about belief in god. The wager as an argument is unsound btw.

The other sound and valid argument for god's existence leads to the same place. It asserts that god exists, but that's it. There is no claim about what god might be like, or even if it makes any sense to ask *that* question. It might be, for example, that god is that set of possibilities from which out universe is the *only* logical possibility. That god is a long way from the God of Mohammad, of Abraham, of Jesus, or St. Augustine.

You might receive better insights by asking for that argument, and then hitting up against its premises.

There ya go.

HTH

Charles

But there ya go.

Answer 3

It's simple... I follow what I believe. I consider many different beliefs and follow those that make the most sense to me. I just do the best with what I've got. If I'm going to be punished for that, so be it. I did my best to figure out and do what I thought was right, that's all I can do. For the record, I was not raised in my current religion, but I have been practicing it for 18 years now. But in my religion, there is no such thing as "right" one-- all religions are man-made ways to attune with a Higher Power. We should try to find the one that helps us do that best, but they all lead to the same place. So the ideas of Pascal's wager, that some people are right or some people are wrong, is irrelevant to my faith.

Answer 4

It's a fallacy of the question that it is an up-or-down question about God, instead of the reality that it is about choosing one God from many.

That reflects the time when Pascal lived. He probably knew very few people who were not Christians (perhaps some Jews), and so the question was simply to believe in the God of the culture or not. Globalism was not even under consideration, so the gods of India or Arabia were not available to believe in.

In this day and age, it is better to consider whether the gamble is worth the price based on the breadth of the choices available. In many ways it's similar to the Nigerian spams offering to deposit millions in your bank account if only you will supply the account number. The pay off is enormous, if you're willing to absorb the risk. The risk of Pascal's wager is a wasted life, and personally, the dubiousness of the pay off is similar to the Nigerian offers.

- {♂♂} - {♂♀} - {♀♀} -

Answer 5

ARGUMENT FROM GAME THEORY
(1) Theist: (after lengthy explanation) Hence, pursuant to game theory, belief in an afterlife is the most sensible option.
(2) Atheist: Wait a minute. That's just Pascal's Wager dressed in different verbiage.
(3) Theist: Nuh uh!
(4) Therefore, God exists.

Answer 6

Well, it actually does speak to the christian god, as it discusses hell and eternal damnation, which is a christian concept.
However, the divinity of Jesus is not the issue of this particular wager. It is whether you believe in that god versus no god at all and what the mathematical consequences might be to that.

Answer 7

Oh my liver hurts!

That's correct, and the wager isn't just for the Christian god, you can use it for any deity and with any religion. So if you follow its logic you had better believe in all the gods...you know just to make sure you have all your bases covered.

Answer 8

God is easily discernable through the process of objective sensibility. Only by the ostrich technique of immersing oneself in subjective rationalization is his existence denied.

Answer 9

The entire Christian religion is based upon the rule of "special exception."

Everything has a cause.... except god
Everything is created.... except god
Everything is finite.... except god

You can't critically examine something that omits itself from critical examination.

Answer 10

Blackjack has better odds. And it is more fun.