One of my favorite philosophers and believers in Christ had much to say about the world he lived in and the God he loved. Not only did Blaise Pascal give us some pretty useful science and math, a now infamous wager, but he also gave us much to think on regarding God. What follows are just a few of my cherished (and memorized) “thoughts” or Pensées.
Think on these things…
“Man is not worthy of God but he is not incapable of being made worthy. It is unworthy of God to unite himself to wretched man, but it is not unworthy of God to raise him out of his wretchedness.” (Pensées 239)
“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.” (Pensées 192)
“Everything that is incomprehensible does not cease to exist.” (Pensées 230)
“The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know. We feel it in a thousand things.” (Pensées 277)
I have been reading and rereading Pascal for over thirty years. Like all great thinkers, even when he is wrong he is brilliant. When he is right, he can give insights that last a lifetime.