📖 Biblical Definition
Pascal's Wager is Blaise Pascal's argument in Pensées: rationally evaluated, the cost-benefit of believing in God favors belief. If God exists and you believe, infinite gain; if God exists and you disbelieve, infinite loss; if God does not exist, neither matters much. The expected value of belief is therefore infinite, of unbelief negative-infinite. Critics object that the argument concerns only generic theism, not specifically Christian faith, and that it produces calculating belief rather than genuine trust. Defenders argue Pascal intended it as the entry-step toward genuine faith, not the substance of it.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
(Pascal's argument.) Rationally evaluated, the cost-benefit of belief in God favors belief.
expand to see more
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), French mathematician, physicist, and Christian apologist; Pensées published posthumously (1670). The Wager appears in fragment 233 (Brunschvicg numbering).
Pascal himself recognized the limitations: the Wager is a way to start the unbeliever toward serious examination, not a substitute for genuine faith. You would have faith, but know not the way... follow the way by which they began; by acting as if they believed.
📖 Key Scripture
Luke 16:25 — "Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented."
Mark 8:36 — "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
1 Corinthians 15:19 — "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable."
1 Corinthians 15:32 — "If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern Christianity often dismisses Pascal's Wager as crass calculation; Pascal himself intended it as opening of the door, not the substance behind it.
expand to see more
Mark 8:36 is Pascal's text: what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Christ Himself frames the eternal stakes in cost-benefit terms; the Wager merely systematizes the principle.
1 Corinthians 15:19 makes the inverse: if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. If Christ is not risen, Christianity loses on every front; if He is risen, the Wager's case is overwhelming.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Argument by Blaise Pascal.
expand to see more
French Pensées — thoughts; the title of Pascal's posthumous compilation of fragments.
Note: Pascal's personal ‘Memorial’ (the parchment he wore sewn into his coat lining until his death) records his Christian conversion experience: Fire... God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of philosophers and scholars.
Usage
"What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
"Pascal intended it as the door, not the substance."
"If Christ is not risen, Christianity loses on every front."