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Aloysium
Guest
In another life commitment, we marry not knowing whether our spouse (or we ourselves) will make the grade, but trusting, having faith, praying that love will see us through.
Approaching it as a gamble, one would remain detached; and then it would be far more likely to fail.
However, I understand Pascal’s wager as involving the initial decision to enter or not into the relationship.
You do the best you can assessing who this person is, you gamble that you are correct.
Once it is decided that one will marry, total commitment must follow.
That said, in such cases, I believe it is God guiding us.
So, maybe there never was a gamble.
We choose hope.
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Charlemagne_III
Guest
According to Pascal, the atheist does this all the time; he gambles that there is no God.
We have no choice but to gamble that there is.
It’s not at all absurd. A gamble is little more than a trust that something good is going to happen to us. We don’t put money on our gamble that there is a God. That would be crass. We put our souls on the line that there is something to hope for more than the uncertain frailties of our life here on Earth.
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BarbTh
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undoubtedly for some, and perhaps quite few, there is an actual experience of God on the experiential level - and hence Hope and belief seems transcended by knowledge.
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Lucy107
Guest
I don’t think it could happen that a child I have cared for would reject me.
It sure does. But it wouldn’t affect my feelings as a parent.
Maybe I am just more of a magnanimous parent than your particular idea of god.
You really want to bring karma into this? Karma - as in “karma and reincarnation” and Hinduism?
Do you even know the role of karma in monotheistic Hinduism??
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Lucy107
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That’s according to Pascal. It’s just his projection. Not necessarily how atheists actually think.
Nothing better than a gamble??
How depressing …
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onenow1
Guest
I stated previously this is meant for non believers. The believer would ponder the universe and wonder how ? There can be only one answer God !
Some thoughts : While this is not a proof for God’s existence, it does demonstrate the seriousness of the consequences of either belief or unbelief which a reasonable person ought to carefully consider.
God Bless
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rstrats
Guest
onenow1,
re: “Some thoughts : While this is not a proof for God’s existence, it does demonstrate the seriousness of the consequences of either belief or unbelief which a reasonable person ought to carefully consider.”
And once the unbeliever considers it, then what?
re: “Some thoughts : While this is not a proof for God’s existence, it does demonstrate the seriousness of the consequences of either belief or unbelief which a reasonable person ought to carefully consider.”
And once the unbeliever considers it, then what?
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Charlemagne_III
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davidv
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Lucy107
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rstrats
Guest
Charlemagne III,
re: “The atheist, if he is honest with himself, has to address this conundrum.”
And once the atheist addresses it, what are the options?
re: “The atheist, if he is honest with himself, has to address this conundrum.”
And once the atheist addresses it, what are the options?
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Aloysium
Guest
View attachment 21528well, if an atheist wants to know what he thinks, he should just ask you!
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Charlemagne_III
Guest
Charlemagne III;12782419:
Yeah, problem solved!
But if there is no truth … why believe in anything?
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Charlemagne_III
Guest
I could live with that!Well, if an atheist wants to know what he thinks, he should just ask you!
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Tom_Baum
Guest
As far as, “The believer consciously embraces his faith.”, this would include ALL beliefs, right?
You do know that some who believe in “God”, do not believe in the “God” that you believe in, they are still “believers”, do you consider them believers?
Concerning, “The unbeliever consciously rejects faith.”, would you consider someone who believes differently from you an “unbeliever”?
Many people have “faith” in something other than what you have faith in, do you consider them “believers”?
Some people believe that there is no God, isn’t that a belief?
What do you think of the statement, “Faith is a GIFT, that NO MAN SHOULD BOAST”?
Shouldn’t you be grateful to God for this “GIFT” and for the opportunity to die for others since Jesus’s invitation was to “COME FOLLOW ME” and since Jesus died for others, it could be that Jesus is asking us to die for others also.
Isn’t this what “Christianity” is about as opposed to picking up one’s “get out of hell” card?
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Charlemagne_III
Guest
I am immensely grateful to God for the gift of my faith.
And I am grateful to Jesus Christ for pointing out that, if I follow him truly, it will be my "get out of hell " and my “get into heaven” card.
Matthew 25
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Tom_Baum
Guest
I, personally, believe that God would rather have honesty than a phony, baloney, "I believe in You God, even though I don’t believe in You, since I have been told that it is better to pretend to believe in You than to be honest with You when I say that I don’t believe in You.
Seems to me that “Pascal’s Wager” is nothing more than lying about one’s belief for one’s own personal benefit if one’s belief is wrong, is this what it seems to anyone else?
Question for you or anyone else: If one does not believe in God, should one be honest about it or should one lie about it?
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Charlemagne_III
Guest
It certainly is a belief, and a belief for which there is no evidence whatever.
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Tom_Baum
Guest
If God created a person with no belief whatsoever in God and that person was honest with God in stating that s/he did not believe in God, what kind of God would God be if God held this against that person?I stated previously this is meant for non believers. The believer would ponder the universe and wonder how ? There can be only one answer God !
Some thoughts : While this is not a proof for God’s existence, it does demonstrate the seriousness of the consequences of either belief or unbelief which a reasonable person ought to carefully consider.
God Bless
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