I came across this article on Pascal’s famous Wager and decided to blog about it.
Pascal argued that it is pragmatic to believe in God even if one cannot conclusively determine the existence of God. This make sense as the benefit of living with a belief in God far outweighs any disadvantages. In another words, this is a sure-win wager whereby we have nothing to lose and everything to gain from holding that belief.
From a pragmatic Singaporean mentality (together with my trader's instinct), this is a no-brainer. I will surely show hand as I have nothing to lose by believing in God. There is no downside. Only upside. Surely, if there is such a bet on the table, I will take it on.
However, as I got past the exuberance of the bet, I realize that mankind is not merely a jackpot machine. We cannot and should not use sheer willpower to believe in something just for its benefits. We cannot live a lie just because it is pragmatic. We cannot merely subscribe to a capitalistic mindset and let money and power (benefits) to determine God. We need evidence, revelation, morality, meaning, etc to determine the truth.
Having said that, there is also no harm for a non-believer to take the first step of determining God by going to church, reading the bible and praying. He can put God to a test by coming on God's terms and determine if God does exist. If God does exist, I believe God will lead that any honest seeker to Him. In fact, the wager is now on God to find him. If God is one who loves us and desires to be found by Man, this wager will also be a no-brainer too. He will conclude that there is God. Either way, the seeker has nothing to lose and everything to gain.
-ed-
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I am sure whoever is willing to throw the wager on God whole-heartedly will definitely find God.
It's probably one of God's way to win a soul. In fact, whoevever converted in such a way would seek God, love God and serve God with indescribable vigour. That's probably why we have capable authors like Lee Strobel, John Warwick Montgomery who can really lay down convincing arguments from their own process of knowing God and accepting God. That's the way God uses them.
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