Presently in postmodernity, there sadly exists an attitude of insular superiority over past philosophy and thought. As American theologian David Wells has noted,
The issue of truth has become a vexed matter today. In fact, we are being forced to choose between two positions, neither of which is very happy. Either there are insights into truth which are apparently untainted by the thinker’s internal biases, social location, and cultural lenses, or we live in a cultural context so overwhelming that thinkers are merely ciphers waiting to be filled and determined by their cultural experience.[1]
Perhaps due to the myth of the supremely enlightened postmodern mind, a self-proclamation of truer knowledge and understanding is made too often without a full examination of ancient sources. Reading Blaise Pascal’s Pensées (written in 1670 CE), the title of which literally means “thoughts,” such a hasty and negative conclusion is ill-advised. In this modest-sized tome, there is much to be gained from reading this astute French philosopher’s words of wisdom. British theologian William Wood affirms this, stating,
“Pascal is much more than a religious moralist with a fine prose style. He is also an important moral philosopher, one who deserves a place alongside the other, more systematic, ethicists of the early modern pantheon.”[2]
Textual Analysis
In his writings, the reader finds a clever, perceptive, imaginative, and insightful observer of humanity and its foibles. Created more as a journal than a doctrinal treatise, Pascal offers a multitude of profound and dependable perceptions on the truths surrounding humanity and Christianity. He masterfully blends reality with relevance. In the end, this philosopher and scientist presents his paradigm of the Christian religion suggesting that it is persuasive, personal, and alive.
In perusing the contents of this compilation, one notes that Pascal has approached Christianity with the eye of a scientist. He includes numerous chapters in scientific form with titles like “Order,” “Cause and Effects,” “Transition From knowledge of Man to Knowledge of God,” “Proofs of Jesus Christ,” “Mathematics/Intuition,” and many similar other designations. With so much to point out, his topics meander somewhat in their discussion of the human condition, but he devotes most of his writing in Pensées on the concept of God and humanity’s relationship to Him.
Pascal’s writing in Pensées does not soften his appraisals when it comes to the understanding of humanity and the Divine. He states, “Christianity is strange: it requires human beings to recognize that they are vile and even abominable, and requires them to want to be like God.”[3] He provides other proverbial aphorisms such as, “We must love only God and hate only ourselves,”[4] and “How hollow and full of filth man’s heart is.”[5] Truly, Pascal’s understanding of human spirituality casts a dark shadow over fleshly attitudes and actions, with people being far from being perfect in action and in thought or will.
If Pascal stopped there, Pensées would be a very depressing and darkly moribund assessment. Fortunately, this insightful thinker also points to a cure or remedy for the common affliction of humanity. First, he proclaims, “Man’s greatness lies in his capacity to recognize his wretchedness.”[6] He later complements this notion with the idea that
“It is clear that, through grace, man is made as if on the level of God, participating in his divinity, and that without grace he is deemed the equivalent of brute beast.”[7]
Additionally, Pascal advises his readers to “not look for satisfaction on earth, do not hope for anything from humanity. Your good is only in God, and ultimate happiness lies in knowing God, in becoming united with Him forever in eternity.”[8] Humanity might have its problems, but God can more than make up for it by the provided salvation in Jesus Christ. Humanity’s natural state may be bad, but there is a path of redemption—belief in God and the Gospel.
Lest one think that Pascal’s approach to Christianity is overly dry and pedantic, he additionally remarks, “My whole heart longs to know where the true good lies in order to follow it. Nothing would be too high a price for eternity.”[9] Pascal did not just want head knowledge about God; he earnestly and eagerly sought after the Truth that restores the mind, the heart, and the soul. Somberly, he writes,
“What a distance there is between knowing God and loving him.”[10]
Yet, Pascal searched for God in life, found unending evidence for His existence and His plan for humanity, and considered God to be holy, loving, and ultimately and deniably lovable. He also observed that many people know that God exists but either choose to ignore Him, distracted by earthly pursuits, or even to irrationally reject Him and the faith. These people, Pascal concluded, are to be pitied, but God’s Truth is still to be shared with them. It is up to all humanity—individually—to accept or to run away from Him. Free will requires free thinking.
Pascal’s Provocative Appeal
Fortunately, reading Pascal’s Pensées enriches one’s understanding of Christianity by providing more than just a sentimental avenue; through Pascal’s erudite considerations, readers find a logical approach to theology that makes sense—evidentially and empirically. Pascal invites his readers to set their emotions aside and then to turn his theological premises over and over again, in pursuit of superlative truths. He asserts,
“Those who are accustomed to judge by feeling understand nothing about things which involve reasoning.”[11]
In a privatized meta-culture that caters more to those with therapeutic moral deistic tastes,[12] Pensées challenges its readers to crawl through the emotional muck to discover deeper and more balanced thought considering the order and salvation of God. Too often, the modern world settles for subjective, comfortable understandings when Truth is somewhat more stringent (although not hopeless). Pascal admonishes his readers,
“All our dignity consists therefore of thought. It is from there that we must be lifted up and not from space and time, which we could never fill. So let us work on thinking well. That is the principal of morality.”[13]
In Pascal’s worldview, to do well in life starts, continues, and ends with thinking logically and productively.
Conclusion
Pascal’s intellectual evaluations of life gave him a great deal of information on society, governance, human behavior, morality, ethics, religion, and the like. His final conclusions may not be the most appetizing for an intellectually-unsettled postmodern, but Pascal more than makes up for any cynicism with an optimistic understanding of love of God (and His ways) and the greatest of news for all humanity. American scholar Ehsan Ahmed writes,
“[For Pascal] The seat of truth is found in the being whose heart is already inscribed with the laws of God in order to decipher his love in contexts at times open and at other times hidden.”[14]
Fortunately for his readers—and for readers in the current cancel culture—Pascal did not censor either his own humanity or God’s divinity in Pensées. Wells notes,
“It is true that we must struggle with reading texts aright, but it is a postmodern misstep to say that meaning flits from reader to reader indeterminately, that it is never anything more than a case of isolated, individual signification. It is precisely this captivity to our own selves, to our own autonomous subjectivity, that God must break if we are to hear his Word aright otherwise, we hear it not at all. And if this hearing in fact is held at bay by our epistemological captivity, then Christian faith has to mean something different in every age and context.”[15]
Ever the thoughtful scientist, Pascal carefully and honestly laid out the universal proofs of earthly people who struggle to think well enough and their omni-reasonable, merciful God who ever longs for them to use their God-given gifts of contemplation—to make penetrating, prudent choices. In many ways, this is echoed by the early Christian leader and Apostle, Paul of Taurus, in Philippians 4:8 (NASB), where he exhorts his own readers,
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
No doubt, Paul’s universal order to “think about these things” would have resonated strongly with Pascal—especially considering the historical and theological testimony of Paul’s life.
Somewhat ironic considering the postmodern era’s emphasis on radical individualism, Pensées is a testament to Blaise Pascal’s own personal pursuit of Truth. Rather than just a private angle on religiosity (small “t” truths), though, in this sublime book, the philosopher endeavors to explain to his readers an accurate understanding of the realities of human life (based on observation), the divine intervention and revelation of God to humanity (based on Scripture), and the ultimate benefits of a (super)personal relationship with the great Creator and Guide (based on reason).
[1] David Wells, “Christian Discipleship in a Postmodern World,” JETS 51, no. 1 (March 2008): 25.
[2] William D. Wood, “Axiology, Self-deception, and Moral Wrongdoing in Blaise Pascal’s Pensées,” Journal of Religious Ethics 37, no. 2 (2009): 356.
[3] Blaise Pascal, Pensées (Great Britain: Oxford University Press, 1999), 87.
[4] Pascal, 91.
[5] Ibid., 49.
[6] Ibid., 36.
[7] Ibid., 43.
[8] Ibid., 54.
[9] Ibid., 166.
[10] Pascal, 92.
[11] Ibid., 137.
[12] Wells, 28.
[13] Pascal, 73.
[14] Ehsan Ahmed, “Pascal, the ‘Pensées’ and the Figure of the Lamb: A Physiognomy,” Neophilologus 80, no. 1 (1996): 29.
[15] Wells, 26.