Pascal's wager states that one should believe in God because if you believe and are right, you win everything (heaven)... but if you don't believe and are wrong, you lose everything(hell). Meanwhile if you believe and are wrong, you still lose nothing.
I've read this argument several times on these forums and my question is: Is that really 'belief'? Wouldn't God have a problem if your 'faith' was really just a way to 'hedge your bets'?
2007-05-25 12:47:20 · 13 answers · asked by Fretless 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Yes, of course you are right. Pascal would never have suggested such a thing and did not suggest such a thing. His wager was published after his death and was just some notes his friends found in his house. He was just beginning to develop some lines of reasoning when he died.
I think Pascal was developing the argument that God Himself is of great worth, if He exists, and therefore we ought to seek God. In order to seek anything, we have to hold as true (at least until proven wrong) that what we seek exists.
And the God we ought to seek is the God who created us because if God exists, then it is likely that He gave us the inner desire to know Him.
2007-05-25 23:14:13 · answer #1 · answered by Matthew T 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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.
2016-05-17 23:14:44 · answer #2 · answered by leann 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The argument is flawed anyway.
If you believe and you are wrong, you lose your opportunity to fully enjoy your earthly life.
Seeing as you KNOW you are alive now but can't be sure there is an afterlife, risking the loss of what's certain for something iffy is bad gambling.
STEVE: disgruntled_penguin is a name because it's funny. It doesn't prove that I am disgruntled any more than that I am a penguin.
I thought it up when I looked at the Linux mascot. You read way too much into things.
Go ask your true friends for money or even just help moving your stuff and see what happens. I've had "brothers and sisters in Christ" and I was not impressed.
2007-05-25 12:51:35 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Faith isn't just mere belief. You can't choose to believe anything anyway. Faith is an act of trust. Lemme give an analogy. You may believe that your chair is able to hold you up. But to entrust yourself to the chair's ability to hold you up by sitting on it is something entirely different.
It's possible to place your faith in something you're not entirely sure is true. People do that when they give people the benefit of the doubt.
Pascal's wager applies to people who are sitting on the fence, so to speak. They don't know whether Christianity is true or not. Pascal argued that for such people, the safer assumption is that Christianity is true. In other words, you should give God the benefit of the doubt in such a situation.
2007-05-25 13:09:35 · answer #4 · answered by Jonathan 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
And I thought I was going to get to drink.
I think your question is different from most Pascal's Wager questions on here.
You're asking Christians to defend it, right? As though, "is this really why you would want to believe?"
That is a good question, because I wouldn't want to believe in a God who would appreciate Pascal's Wager.
Ah hell.. I'll take a drink anyway.
2007-05-25 13:04:39 · answer #5 · answered by Tao 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All Christians have doubts about their faith which included Thomas, one of the twelve disciples of Christ.....hence the term, "doubting Thomas." Pascal's wager is valid because in terms of the consequences of your decision it's a win win situation....mathematically. Doubt is no true yardstick of the measure of one's faith. God would have no problem with why you decided to join his legions of light against the evil forces of darkness. He's a winner....betting with the winner is no sin and the quality of faith has nothing to do with betting that God
is real or doubting that God exists. .
2007-05-25 13:22:54 · answer #6 · answered by Joline 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The false premis is that you can achieve salvation by doing a thing rather than having a thing done.
Salvation is a gift God gives through our faith. God is not obligated to give salvation for the purpose of hedging a bet.
2007-05-25 12:58:58 · answer #7 · answered by sympleesymple 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I like Thomas Jeffersons view better than Pascals:
“Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear”
- Thomas Jefferson
2007-05-25 12:52:49 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Hedging your bets is a bad idea, and I never recommend such a thing. God is knowable and demonstrably true. I recommend people get to know Him, or nothing doing.
2007-05-25 12:52:30 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
True belief is the only way. If you research the Bible enough you will find that you eventually believe It's not the same as blind faith in atheism
2007-05-25 12:51:45 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋