Some of Pascal’s “Thoughts”
After previously trying to read through Pascal’s ‘Pensées’ and then giving up, I decided to try again and have been very slowly (a couple pages per day in the morning) reading through it over the past few weeks. Although I don’t always find myself agreeing with him or fully understanding his arguments, I think there is a lot modern apologists can learn from his method and some of his thoughts. That being said, here are a few of my favorite so far (I’m not even yet halfway done):
12. 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. Worthy of reverence because it really understands human nature. Attractive because it promises true good.
108. What part of us feels pleasure? Is it our hand, our arm, our flesh, or our blood? It must obviously be something immaterial.
185. Faith certainly tells us what the senses do not, but not the contrary of what they see; it is above, not against them.
192. Knowing God without knowing our own wretchedness makes for pride. Knowing our own wretchedness without knowing God makes for despair. Knowing Jesus Christ strikes the balance because he shows us both God and our own wretchedness.
205. If all things have a single principle, a single end - all things by him, all things for him - true religion must then teach us to worship and to love him alone. But, as we find ourselves unable to worship what we do not know or to love anything but ourselves, the religion which teaches us these duties must also teach us about our inability and tell us the remedy as well. It teaches us that through one man all was lost and the bond broken between God and man, and that through one man the bond was restored.
219. Other religions, like those of the heathen, are more popular, for they consist in externals, but they are not for clever men. A purely intellectual religion would be more appropriate to the clever but would be no good for the people. The Christian religion alone is appropriate for all, being a blend of external and internal. It exalts the people inwardly, and humbles the proud outwardly, and is not perfect without both, for the people must understand the spirit of the letter while the clever must submit their spirit to the letter.