Pascal's Wager

“Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is.”—Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)

In simple form, the quote above gives "Pacal's Wager." The French Philosopher Pascal argued that if there is no God, believing in a God had no downside, but if there was a God and one did not believe, one would lose infinite rewards. He felt that faith was therefore justified. A formal statement of the argument from a Philosophy of Religion website goes as follows

(1) It is possible that the Christian God exists and it is possible that the Christian God does not exist.
(2) If one believes in the Christian God then if he exists then one receives an infinitely great reward and if he does not exist then one loses little or nothing.
(3) If one does not believe in the Christian God then if he exists then one receives an infinitely great punishment and if he does not exist then one gains little or nothing.
(4) It is better to either receive an infinitely great reward or lose little or nothing than it is to either receive an infinitely great punishment or gain little or nothing.
Therefore:
(5) It is better to believe in the Christian God than it is not to believe in the Christian God.
(6) If one course of action is better than another then it is rational to follow that course of action and irrational to follow the other.
Therefore:
(7) It is rational to believe in the Christian God and irrational not to believe in the Christian God.

That same site lists three common objections to Pascal's Wager 1) It assumes that if there is a God, there is also a heaven of infinite rewards, 2) It assumes a high probability for God's existence, and 3) It assumes that we can choose our beliefs.

For now, let us look at the third objection. Pascal wrote elsewhere in his work Pensées about coming to faith by choice rather than a conversion of the heart saying,

Those to whom God has given faith by moving their hearts are very fortunate, and feel quite legitimately convinced, but to those who do not have it we can only give such faith through reasoning, until God gives it by moving their heart, without which faith is only human and useless for salvation.

Pascal seems to suggest than we can fake it until we make it with faith. Should one decide that there might be a God and then act is if God exists prior to faith? Is this what the Psalmist meant in Psalm 34:3, "O taste and see that the LORD is good." Is faking it until you make it with faith a good idea or the path to hypocrisy?

A somewhat related article is in the archives at www.kingofpeace.org called Why a non-believer may want a church.