Pascal's Wager

718 Words3 Pages
Pascal’s Wager: What’s Really at Stake? Thesis: Because Pascal’s Wager is a gamble, it not only puts one’s personal beliefs at risk but it also endangers individual ethics. Pascal’s Wager treats belief in God as a bet that may be won or lost. In other words believing in God is a rational belief because if God exists one receives salvation. However, if God exists and one does not believe he/she will receive eternal punishment. Therefore, any sensible person should believe in God because the risk is greater to do otherwise. By breaking down this wager one is able to perceive what he/she risks by not believing in God and in turn causes them to evaluate their future in the after-life. One of the most criticized elements of Pascal’s Wager is that it assumes God rewards belief. Is it really rational to believe that God will reward blind faith and punish those who do believe in moral justice but do not necessarily believe in him? Pascal’s Wager portrays God as an insecure, arrogant being who must be validated by the belief of mere mortals. Since there is a claim that God is indeed “All-Good” wouldn’t that mean that he would reward those who are just like him even if they did not believe in him. A Being that possesses perfect goodness would not reward an immoral person for the sake of mere belief because that would mean he is not perfectly good. This aspect of Pascal’s Wager is therefore nullified because it negates one of the attributes of God, which is that he is “All-Good.” Another controversial problem with Pascal’s argument is one believing in god for the sake of a reward. If one believes in God to receive a reward is that true belief? It is psychologically disturbing to believe in God because we seek a reward. God did not put man on earth to worship him like a mindless drone in search for compensation. If God wanted man
Open Document