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As one of the original thinkers behind probability theory, Blaise Pascal developed what is commonly referred to as “Pascal’s Wager” in an attempt to prove by deductive reasoning that believing in a higher power was more rational than not. ... For this reason “Pascal’s Wager” better served as a defense of Christianity and as a justification of the Christian faith.
The Wager initially establishes that it is not necessary to prove that God exists for him to actually exist. ... ” Calling into question the use of reason in explaining God, for the first time in his Wager, further defends this. ... ” This is later contradicted when Pascal goes on to explain the Wager.
The main premise of “Pascal’s Wager” revolves around the idea that there are two choices that can be made pertaining to whether or not there is a God, and that everyone must wager one of the two ways. ...
Pascal also addresses certain holdups of Christianity in an attempt to assure those who believe or wish to believe that God exists that their faith will be justified. ... The skeptic realizes that he/she is bound to wager in one direction, and that because of this he/she cannot believe. ...
Throughout Aphorism 418 in which the main portion of the Wager is addressed, Pascal tends to not provide language pertaining to any specific religion. ... It can be assumed up until this point that he is arguing on behalf of Christianity because of his background, although he did not make it clear. However, the last few Aphorisms included in the Wager section do explicitly make claim to Christianity as being the proper choice of religion. ... No sect and no religion has always existed on earth except Christianity.” In doing so, Pascal affirms his belief in Christianity and conveys this conviction to the reader guiding his/her perception to that of a Christian God. Now it is not certain whether or not this excerpt was intended to be included in Pascal’s Wager, and judging by the number of the original placement of the aphorism, it was not, but that does not take away from the fact that Pascal held this belief.
Approximate Word count = 1689
Approximate Pages = 6.8
(250 words per page double spaced)
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