With Pascal’s wager, it seems better to act as though God exists, praying daily, attending church, etc. Even if God does not exist, you lose less than if He does exist, but you act as though He doesn’t. — Katiee
Yes. Even in Christianity, some denominations say they have the means of salvation and other Christian denominations do not. So, Pascal's wager becomes Pascal's lottery - spin the wheel to pick which religion and which denomination to believe in and then hope to God you've picked right.The wager is a pretty shallow and ineffective idea. For a start, what if Allah is real and you are praying to Yahweh? Or what if Brahma is god but you're banking on Jesus? Or what if Yahweh subscribes to Presbyterian sectarianism and thinks Catholicism is condemnable heresy and you are posing as a Catholic? — Tom Storm
Ah, but Pascal picked one of the few options where acts (deeds) don't get you the prize. Jesus paid the price for all that, so true (not feigned) belief is enough. Kind of gives one an open license to sin or at least to not bother with any of the public acts mentioned above.With Pascal’s wager, it seems better to act as though God exists, praying daily, attending church, etc. — Katiee
I think Pascal would have thought of that. It indicates to me that he actually already held a true belief in one particular choice (probably the one of his local culture), and the wager was put out there as a way to justify this belief despite the lack of it being a rational choice. So the wager is a rationalization of that actually held irrational belief.The wager is a pretty shallow and ineffective idea. For a start, what if Allah is real and you are praying to Yahweh? Or what if Brahma is god but you're banking on Jesus? — Tom Storm
I think Pascal would have thought of that. It indicates to me that he actually already held a true belief in one particular choice (probably the one of his local culture), and the wager was put out there as a way to justify this belief despite the lack of it being a rational choice. So the wager is a rationalization of that actually held irrational belief. — noAxioms
Men despise religion. They hate it and are afraid it may be true. The cure for this is first to show that religion is not contrary to reason, but worthy of reverence and respect. Next make it attractive, make good men wish it were true, and then show that it is.
Hey Katiee!Some argue that Pascal’s wager fails because it ignores the importance of belief in theism. They say that the wager says one should weigh out the options of theism and atheism, then choose which to follow. — Katiee
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