Pascal’s <i>Wager</i> and Its Postmodern Counterpart

Bill Nyman

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.18

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Pascal’s Wager and Its Postmodern Counterpart

Bill Nyman

Published in International Journal of Philosophy (Volume 10, Issue 1)

Received: 28 February 2022 Accepted: 16 March 2022 Published: 23 March 2022

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Abstract

Pascal’s Wager is probably the most analyzed apologetic argument in the history of apologetics. What has often been the case, however, is that this piece of Pascal’s Pensées has often been misinterpreted and taken out of Pascal’s total apologetic work. For that reason, the Wager has been misappropriated and has undergone a battery of misplaced criticism. Taken in its proper context, the Wager is a beautiful vindication of the Christian faith, cleverly constructed to make the skeptic re-think his position and contemplate the importance of the Christian faith. Much confusion exists about the placement of this particular Pensées, and where it is situated in his overall apology (Pensées 418) lends itself to the challenge of what has become “the Many Gods Objection.” For that reason, I would suggest that Pascal’s Wager belongs at the very beginning of his Pensées, where the rest of the Pensées are an explanation for the reason Christianity is the most attractive belief. Postmodern philosophers have re-appropriated the Wager and made it fit their own philosophical and theological presuppositions playing in the hands of the “Many-Gods-Objection.” This paper describes the beauty of Pascal’s Wager in its proper context and expresses the erroneous postmodern appropriation of the Wager.

Published in	International Journal of Philosophy (Volume 10, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.18
Page(s)	41-47
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Pascal, Wager, Postmodernism, Pensées, Richard Kearney

References

[1]	Adamson, D. 1995. Blaise Pascal: Mathematician, physicist and thinker about God. New York, NY: Martin’s Press.
[2]	Arnobius. 2004. The seven books of Arnobius against the heathen. (In Ante-Nicene fathers, vol. 6. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers).
[3]	Calvin, J. 1960. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Edited by John T. McNeill. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
[4]	Gilbert, P. B. 2011. Pascal’s God-shaped vacuum: A guided tour of the Pensées. Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
[5]	Hartle, A. 2017. ‘Pascal in the post-Christian world.’ Modern Age, 59 (1): pp. 19-29.
[6]	Hubert, M. L. 1973. Pascal’s unfinished apology: a study of his plan. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press.
[7]	Jordan, J. ed. 1994. Gambling on God: Essays on Pascal’s Wager. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
[8]	Jordan, J. 2002. ‘Pascal’s wagers.’ Midwest Studies in Philosophy, 26 (1): pp. 213-223.
[9]	Kearney, R. 2010. Anatheism: returning to God after God. New York, NY: Columbia University.
[10]	Kreeft, P. 1993. Christianity for modern pagans: Pascal’s Pensées. San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press.
[11]	Lewis, C. S. 2000. Mere Christianity. New York, NY: Harper Collins.
[12]	Morris, T. V. 1992. Making sense of it all: Pascal and the meaning of life. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans.
[13]	Nietzsche, F. 2015. Delphi Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsche (Illustrated). Hastings, UK: Delphi Classics. Kindle Edition.
[14]	Pascal, B. 1966. Pensées. Translated by A. J. Krailsheimer. Markham, ON: Penguin.
[15]	Plantinga, A. 2000. Warranted Christian belief. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
[16]	Rescher, N. 1985. Pascal’s Wager: A study of practical reasoning in philosophical theology. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame.
[17]	Rota, M. 2016. Taking Pascal’s Wager: Faith evidence and the abundant life. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic.
[18]	Tillotson, J. 1819. The wisdom of being religious. London, UK: Paternoster Row.
[19]	Treanor, B. 2010. ‘The anatheistic wager: Faith after faith.’ Religion & the Arts, 14 (5): pp. 546-559.
[20]	Van Vliet, J. 2000. ‘Gambling on faith: a holistic examination of Blaise Pascal’s Wager’, The Westminster Theological Journal, 62 (1), pp. 33–63.
[21]	Wetsel, D. 1994. Pascal and disbelief: catechesis and conversion in the Pensées. Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America.
[22]	Ẑiẑek, S. 2010. ‘The atheist wager.’ Political Theology, 11 (1): pp. 136-140.

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Bill Nyman. (2022). Pascal’s Wager and Its Postmodern Counterpart. International Journal of Philosophy, 10(1), 41-47. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.18

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ACS Style

Bill Nyman. Pascal’s Wager and Its Postmodern Counterpart. Int. J. Philos. 2022, 10(1), 41-47. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.18

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Bill Nyman. Pascal’s Wager and Its Postmodern Counterpart. Int J Philos. 2022;10(1):41-47. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.18

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@article{10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.18,
  author = {Bill Nyman},
  title = {Pascal’s Wager and Its Postmodern Counterpart},
  journal = {International Journal of Philosophy},
  volume = {10},
  number = {1},
  pages = {41-47},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.18},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.18},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijp.20221001.18},
  abstract = {Pascal’s Wager is probably the most analyzed apologetic argument in the history of apologetics. What has often been the case, however, is that this piece of Pascal’s Pensées has often been misinterpreted and taken out of Pascal’s total apologetic work. For that reason, the Wager has been misappropriated and has undergone a battery of misplaced criticism. Taken in its proper context, the Wager is a beautiful vindication of the Christian faith, cleverly constructed to make the skeptic re-think his position and contemplate the importance of the Christian faith. Much confusion exists about the placement of this particular Pensées, and where it is situated in his overall apology (Pensées 418) lends itself to the challenge of what has become “the Many Gods Objection.” For that reason, I would suggest that Pascal’s Wager belongs at the very beginning of his Pensées, where the rest of the Pensées are an explanation for the reason Christianity is the most attractive belief. Postmodern philosophers have re-appropriated the Wager and made it fit their own philosophical and theological presuppositions playing in the hands of the “Many-Gods-Objection.” This paper describes the beauty of Pascal’s Wager in its proper context and expresses the erroneous postmodern appropriation of the Wager.},
 year = {2022}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Pascal’s Wager and Its Postmodern Counterpart
AU  - Bill Nyman
Y1  - 2022/03/23
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.18
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.18
T2  - International Journal of Philosophy
JF  - International Journal of Philosophy
JO  - International Journal of Philosophy
SP  - 41
EP  - 47
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-7455
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.18
AB  - Pascal’s Wager is probably the most analyzed apologetic argument in the history of apologetics. What has often been the case, however, is that this piece of Pascal’s Pensées has often been misinterpreted and taken out of Pascal’s total apologetic work. For that reason, the Wager has been misappropriated and has undergone a battery of misplaced criticism. Taken in its proper context, the Wager is a beautiful vindication of the Christian faith, cleverly constructed to make the skeptic re-think his position and contemplate the importance of the Christian faith. Much confusion exists about the placement of this particular Pensées, and where it is situated in his overall apology (Pensées 418) lends itself to the challenge of what has become “the Many Gods Objection.” For that reason, I would suggest that Pascal’s Wager belongs at the very beginning of his Pensées, where the rest of the Pensées are an explanation for the reason Christianity is the most attractive belief. Postmodern philosophers have re-appropriated the Wager and made it fit their own philosophical and theological presuppositions playing in the hands of the “Many-Gods-Objection.” This paper describes the beauty of Pascal’s Wager in its proper context and expresses the erroneous postmodern appropriation of the Wager.
VL  - 10
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Bill Nyman

Theology, Prairie Bible College, Three Hills, Canada

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APA Style

Bill Nyman. (2022). Pascal’s Wager and Its Postmodern Counterpart. International Journal of Philosophy, 10(1), 41-47. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.18

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Bill Nyman. Pascal’s Wager and Its Postmodern Counterpart. Int. J. Philos. 2022, 10(1), 41-47. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.18

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AMA Style

Bill Nyman. Pascal’s Wager and Its Postmodern Counterpart. Int J Philos. 2022;10(1):41-47. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.18

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.18,
  author = {Bill Nyman},
  title = {Pascal’s Wager and Its Postmodern Counterpart},
  journal = {International Journal of Philosophy},
  volume = {10},
  number = {1},
  pages = {41-47},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.18},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.18},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijp.20221001.18},
  abstract = {Pascal’s Wager is probably the most analyzed apologetic argument in the history of apologetics. What has often been the case, however, is that this piece of Pascal’s Pensées has often been misinterpreted and taken out of Pascal’s total apologetic work. For that reason, the Wager has been misappropriated and has undergone a battery of misplaced criticism. Taken in its proper context, the Wager is a beautiful vindication of the Christian faith, cleverly constructed to make the skeptic re-think his position and contemplate the importance of the Christian faith. Much confusion exists about the placement of this particular Pensées, and where it is situated in his overall apology (Pensées 418) lends itself to the challenge of what has become “the Many Gods Objection.” For that reason, I would suggest that Pascal’s Wager belongs at the very beginning of his Pensées, where the rest of the Pensées are an explanation for the reason Christianity is the most attractive belief. Postmodern philosophers have re-appropriated the Wager and made it fit their own philosophical and theological presuppositions playing in the hands of the “Many-Gods-Objection.” This paper describes the beauty of Pascal’s Wager in its proper context and expresses the erroneous postmodern appropriation of the Wager.},
 year = {2022}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Pascal’s Wager and Its Postmodern Counterpart
AU  - Bill Nyman
Y1  - 2022/03/23
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.18
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.18
T2  - International Journal of Philosophy
JF  - International Journal of Philosophy
JO  - International Journal of Philosophy
SP  - 41
EP  - 47
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-7455
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.18
AB  - Pascal’s Wager is probably the most analyzed apologetic argument in the history of apologetics. What has often been the case, however, is that this piece of Pascal’s Pensées has often been misinterpreted and taken out of Pascal’s total apologetic work. For that reason, the Wager has been misappropriated and has undergone a battery of misplaced criticism. Taken in its proper context, the Wager is a beautiful vindication of the Christian faith, cleverly constructed to make the skeptic re-think his position and contemplate the importance of the Christian faith. Much confusion exists about the placement of this particular Pensées, and where it is situated in his overall apology (Pensées 418) lends itself to the challenge of what has become “the Many Gods Objection.” For that reason, I would suggest that Pascal’s Wager belongs at the very beginning of his Pensées, where the rest of the Pensées are an explanation for the reason Christianity is the most attractive belief. Postmodern philosophers have re-appropriated the Wager and made it fit their own philosophical and theological presuppositions playing in the hands of the “Many-Gods-Objection.” This paper describes the beauty of Pascal’s Wager in its proper context and expresses the erroneous postmodern appropriation of the Wager.
VL  - 10
IS  - 1
ER  -

Copy | Download