Is pascal's wager foolproof?

Question

if you don't know what it is, it's basically saying this:

if you don't believe in god and there is no god, you've lost nothing.
if you believe in god and there is no god, you've lost nothing.
if you believe in god and there is a god, you've just gotten a ticket to paradise.
if you don't believe in god and there is a god, then you're screwed.
Therefore, the wise person would think along the lines of "ok, since i've got nothing to lose and possibly a lot to gain by believing and possibly a TON to lose by not believing, i'll believe just to be safe.

Still, my question is this: If one follows that thought process, what happens when that person dies, assuming there is a god? wouldn't s/he see right through his motives?

just to clarify, i think the whole load is bs.
just so you know.

Answer 1

You bring up a very good point.

Pascal's Wager is an argument for sceptics:

God exists or He does not exist, and we must of necessity lay odds for or against Him.

If I wager for and God is -- infinite gain (heaven);
If I wager for and God is not -- no loss.
If I wager against and God is -- infinite loss (hell);
If I wager against and God is not -- neither loss nor gain.

Wisdom, therefore, counsels me to make the wager which insures my winning all or, at worst losing nothing.

============

If you believe in God only as a wager then you obviously do not have a deep, mature, or adequate faith. But it is something, it is a start.

From a Catholic viewpoint, it gives God the opportunity to start using His transforming grace in the life of the new believer.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11511a.htm
http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/apologetics/ap0185.html

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Is it too early to start drinking?

There are all kinds of problems with Pascal's wager, the biggest being:

1 - The assumption that if you believe in god and there is no god you've lost nothing: You've lost the time you spent in church for no purpose, if nothing else - a lot more if you include tithes, etc.

2 - The assumption that if you don't believe in god, and there is one, you're screwed. If you assume that if there is a god, and he's a loving god, and profers salvation to everyone who lives a good life regardless of whether or not you believed in him, then Pascal's wager pays off exactly opposite to the assumed benefit.

3 - The assumption that the god you've chosen to believe in happens to correspond with the actual god who exists, and not one of the thousands of other deities that are believed to exist by other people.

4 - The assumption that you can turn belief on or off like a switch depending on your perceived benefit of believing.

And of course,

5 - The assumption you mention, that god wouldn't see through a transparent attempt to curry favour by believing only because the odds showed it to be the most beneficial course of action to you.

Answer 3

It only works as long as two conditions are true:

1) That belief in something which proves to be false does not diminish the believer in any way, even if it is self-respect or a waste of time given to that belief.

2) The only god possible is the Christian god who rewards belief with eternal life.

Since these are two obvious flaws, it is clearly not foolproof.

I can't answer whether god would see through the selfish motivation of belief for the sake of reward, as I don't think that god exists.

Answer 4

Once again, we have a question attributing human traits to a mythical/spiritual/super-intelligent entity.
I take exception to the implications of the last possibility: if you don't believe in 'god' and there is a 'god', then you're screwed. Why should such an entity care one way or the other whether you believed in it or not?
'Heaven' and 'hell' are both human inventions. No-one knows what happens after death...if anything.

Answer 5

You would think a "wise" God would know that you've just been going through the motions to hedge your bets and promptly toss your **** out of there, wouldn't you?

Personally, which deity will I be meeting? I'm betting on Odin and Freya and the other Aesir and Vanir. What if the Christians have had it wrong?

Answer 6

No, far from it. God judges by the heart and you cannot gain entrance to eternal life by just believing there is a God.

James 2:19
You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!

You need a personal relationship, not a surface knowledge.
http://www.schneblin.com/studies/pdfs/getting_past_the_guard.pdf

Its by "faith" not by "knowledge".

Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Answer 7

Also it assumes there's a god who will reward in the afterlife a specific type of faith, and that there's no penalty for getting the type of faith wrong.

Answer 8

Foolproof implies fools wouldn't be able to use it.

Yahoo! Answers clearly demonstrates they can.

*drink*

Answer 9

And me with 8 yrs. clean.
Ah well, drink up everybody.

Answer 10

"Is pascal's wager foolproof?"

No, it's plenty foolish. :)



*drink*