Pensées

This subsection consists of miscellaneous aphorisms about human nature, Christ, and Christianity. Human nature is naturally corrupt and affected by “madness.” Only the humble of heart are capable of seeing God. Pascal hints at his Wager concept, explored in the next section.

Pascal addresses rational objections to Christian belief. Skeptics fault Christians for not providing proof for their faith, yet to provide proof would be contrary to the nature of faith itself. Pascal proposes that religious belief comes down to the question of a wager that we must make: Either there is a God and eternal life, or there is not. If we make a wager in favor of God, we will win eternal life if we are correct. If we wager that God does not exist, we will lose our life in hell if we are incorrect. If, on the other hand, God does not exist, we will have lost nothing by believing in him.

With an equal chance of winning or losing on either side, we would be irrational not to risk everything for the chance of the infinite gain to be won by believing in God. Pascal argues that all of us are obliged to make a wager one way or the other; we cannot remain on the sidelines.