Pascal's Wager

Blaise Pascal, a French Philosopher, argued that it is a better "bet" to believe in God than not to do so.

Pascal's wager has actually evolved from its original structure over the years, but the basic premise is this:

If you believe in God and you are right, you have gained everything (eternal life) and have lost nothing. If you are wrong, you have gained nothing and lost nothing.

If you do not believe in God and you are right, you've gained nothing and lost nothing. But if you are wrong, you have gained nothing and lost everything (eternal damnation?)

So the safe bet, according to Pascal, is to believe in God... just in case.


But to proceed with the safe odds in this wager raises a few questions.

1. This wager assumes that the Christian God is the only God or the one true God. What if Muslims are correct and Allah is the one true God.

Would Allah be more upset if you were a Christian and worshipped the wrong God or if you didn't believe at all? That's another wager you'd have to take. Some call this the "avoiding the wrong hell" problem.


2. Is this type of belief in God what he really wants? Is this just an insurance policy for the believer... a "just in case" get out of jail free type card? Will God look favorably on a person if they stood before his judgment seat and only really believed because he or she was afraid not to?


3. What if you are a good person and really want to believe, but simply cannot bring yourself to believing in miracles and other events in the Bible? Is belief in something a choice? Would God really condemn someone to eternal torment for simply not being able to believe in the message?

If someone presented me with the ultimatum of either believing in God or don't believe and face the consequences, would I be saved from eternal punishment if I just said "yes"? The point is a person just can't simply believe in something ad hoc. If God exists and wants people to believe, he isn't going to be happy if you are just a shadow believer... one that only believes because of idea that it is a safer bet than to not believe. It seems that you would have to have genuine belief for it to work. Isn't the old saying "God knows your heart"?