Wagering On God

Pascal wrote, “You must wager...Which will you choose?... Let us weigh the gain and loss in calling “heads “ that God is. Let us weigh the two cases: if you win, you win all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager then unhesitantly that He is.”

I have heard this argument before. The fact that anyone would actually resort to such logic in their attempt to answer the single most important question of their eternal life is appalling to me. It is a good example of how our foolish reliance on reasoning prevents us from ever experiencing that which is directly in front of us. I can hardly imagine that God, however defined, would acknowledge such a superficial attempt of belief. The wager itself is a copout, one that if taken, win or lose, will cause you to lose everything.

Knowing God should be no more of an exercise in reason than knowing your own mother, in fact, even less so. To question the existence of God is to question your own existence. There is no reasoning more complex than, “Cogito, ergo sum”, necessary to reach the required solution. If there is no God, then there is nothing. God is that that is; nothing more and nothing less. To wager on His existence is to wager on your own existence. It is a fools bet.