Blaise Pascal – Hero of Contemplation

Hi folks, I hope you are doing ok? This Sunday we are trying a new venue……. meeting at Mr Petit Bar and Lounge, Park View, near the Dog and Rabbit. Hope to see you there from 8.00pm.

This week we are thinking about Blaise Pascal, a hero of contemplation. He was one of the greatest mathematicians and physicists of all time! In his teens he invented a mechanical calculator, this was a precursor to computers. He is responsible for at least two new fields of mathematics and his Law of Probability is still used by economists today. He even developed the first bus route in Paris…

His defining moment came on November 23rd 1654 between 10.30 and 12.30 at night…… It’s often described as his ‘Night of Fire’. We only know about it because of some words written secretly on paper and sewn into his jacket! It was found after his death by a servant. These words were written on it:

Fire

God of Abraham

God of Isaac, God of Jacob,

not of philosophers and scholars. certainly, certainly 

Heartfelt joy, peace. 

God of Jesus Christ. 

This mysterious encounter changed Pascal’s life. Thereafter he turned towards theology and philosophy. His book Pensees is widely considered a masterpiece of prose. It includes Pascals famous ‘wager’ which argues that it makes more sense to live as though God exists because if you are wrong your loss will be merely finite and if you are right your gain will be immeasurable. 

Ultimately Pascal was a mystic who argued that ‘people almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive.’

Questions

What would you say was your greatest achievement to date? 

What strikes you about his quote? 

What do you make of his ‘wager’?

Belief through proof or attractiveness?

Peace, Rob