Pascal's Wager - book review

Most of us have heard of the mathematician Blaise Pascal and his famous wager about belief and the existence of God. Briefly, it goes something like this:

Either God exists or he doesn't. Either you believe in him or you don't. Thus, there are four possibilities

1. God exists and you believe in him;
2. God doesn't exist and you believe in him;
3. God exists and you don't believe in him; and
4. God doesn't exist and you don't believe in him.

In the first case, assuming you also follow up your belief with good works, you are one of the chosen few and shall enjoy life everlasting with God. good outcome

In the second case, your belief in God profited you nothing except a good, clean life that has on earth its own rewards. You will also have lost the chance to waste your life in sensual and hedonistic orgies or whatever else you may wish to do. neutral outcome

In the third case God will punish your unbelief and you will burn in Hell for eternity. bad outcome

And lastly, in the fourth case you will have lost nothing in eternity and on earth you will be able to spend your time doing whatever you can do under the law and your fellow man's indulgence. neutral outcome

Clearly then, according to Pascal, the reasonable man would want to avoid Hell at all costs and live in Heaven if possible. The reasonable man can't change whether God exists or not, only whether he believes or not. So a man can pick Cases 1 and 2 or 3 and 4. Cases 1 and 2 have a good and a neutral outcome. Cases 3 and 4 have a bad and neutral outcome. That means this reasonable man will choose belief in God, cases 1 and 2.

Many people have disagreed with this argument and questioned Pascal's faith if it was based on gambler's logic. In his book Pascal's Wager, the Man Who Played Dice with God, author James A. Connor lays the groundwork for a much clearer understanding of the background and context of the wager. We learn, for example that Pascal was a very, very devout man who took his religion so seriously that he labeled the Jesuit order of the Catholic Church "lax" because they were too "easy" on sinners. Pascal felt that belief should come from the heart but with his Wager example he felt that one could also justify belief solely on rational grounds. The book presents a window into how serious the French took matters of religion and morality. And it explains how Pascal almost by accident fell into the science of statistics and expected outcomes which underlies gaming and gambling.

The book also gives us much to think about regarding the separation of church and state which seems to be in question nowadays. In 17th century France there was no separation which meant that the church meddled in matters of government and the King meddled in affairs of the church. It indeed goes both ways.

I would have liked more discussion of Pascal's contribution to science and mathematics but the author chose to fill in areas that are less well know. It was, in any case, an interesting biography of Pascal. A good read.