Blaise Pascal's Passionate Plea

    

    One of humanity’s most outstanding questions is, “What comes after this life?” The answer to this question can completely alter the course of one’s existence on earth. Knowing that a paradisiacal realm waits for those who adhere to specific religious values powerfully motivates people to obey these values. For example, many of history’s most influential religious figures, such as Montanus and Muhammad, gained immense influence over the lives of their followers by professing to hold secret knowledge about the pathway to Heaven. However, knowing that no future exists after death means life is meaningless.  People who believe life is pointless often become depressed, unexcited about life, and suicidal. In his Pensees, Blaise Pascal reveals two essential truths about human nature and eternity, forcefully urging his readers to confirm their safety in the afterlife by seeking God.

    Pascal begins by asserting that all humans should want to be eternally safe. Since human life on earth is fraught with sadness and turmoil, all people should be deeply motivated to seek a better life after death. Pascal describes earthly life as devoid of true happiness, saying, “You do not need a greatly elevated soul to realize that in this life there is no true and firm satisfaction, that all our pleasures are simply vanity” (160). While most people do not live wholly miserable lives, and even the most unhappy person still experiences temporary pleasures, every earthly source of enjoyment, like youth and sensuality, will eventually fade. By describing earthly life as one filled with imperfect feelings of happiness and vain pleasures, Pascal suggests that everyone should seek Heaven’s true happiness in the afterlife by serving God. Additionally, Pascal argues that the prospect of enduring Hell’s eternal torment should strongly motivate people to avoid it by seeking God. If the God of the Bible exists, there are only two possible destinations for the human soul after this life: Heaven or Hell. Pascal condemns those who refuse to consider what comes after death, saying, “This indifference in a matter which concerns themselves, their eternity… amazes and appalls me: it strikes me as wholly monstrous” (159-160). To “know only that on leaving this world I either fall into nothingness forever, or into the hands of an angry God, without knowing which of these two states will be my condition in eternity” (161) and not attempt to seek a third option indicates an unnatural lack of “human interest and self-love” (161). Making no effort to escape mortal danger while knowing one is in it is contrary to the human instinct of self-preservation, and there is no greater danger than to “fall into the hands of an angry God” (161, 171). Pascal uses the current pain of life and the prospect of future agony in the afterlife to motivate his readers to seek a better destination after death. 

After encouraging his readers to search for eternal safety, Pasal reveals where to find it: through obedience to God. Pascal describes the choice of whether or not to serve God as an extraordinary “wager” that determines one’s eternal destiny (154). One who chooses to live as if God exists by obeying the commands in the Bible will not lose even if he is wrong. Pascal says, “Let us weigh up the gain and the loss by calling heads that God exists… if you lose, you lose nothing” (154). The non-existence of a creator necessarily means that humanity and human life exist without meaning or purpose. Therefore, one who devotes his entire life to the service of a non-existent creator would only have used up a meaningless life and would have no reason to grieve over the lost time. Additionally, being obedient to the moral rules found in the Bible is incredibly conducive to the development of human virtue, even if God does not exist. Pascal says that obeying Biblical principles will cause one to “be faithful, honest, humble, doing good, a sincere and true friend,” virtues that all morally upright people desire to embody (156). If God exists, though, the benefits of obeying Him multiply exponentially. Those who follow Him will experience an “infinitely happy infinity of life” after death (154). Humanity desires happiness more than anything else in the physical world, and people often make life-altering choices to acquire it. For example, people often bring new children into the world, embark on entirely new careers, and move to new regions to become happier. Still, Pascal claims that one can attain happiness by simply seeking God. If Pascal is correct about the existence of God, then choosing whether or not to seek Him is humanity's most significant choice. By demonstrating that one will always benefit from obeying Biblical rules even if God does not exist, Pascal assures his readers that seeking God is the right choice.

Pascal reveals vital truths about the afterlife in his Pensees to motivate his readers to seek eternal safety through God. Humans are imbued with the natural desire to pursue both the security and prosperity of their brethren. Pascal has reasoned to the conclusion that God exists but notices that many of his fellow humans are indifferent both to the existence of God and so choose not to obey Him. Pascal believes that God will punish people who disobey Him and thus fears for the spiritually indifferent. He writes his Pensees as a desperate plea to spiritually indifferent people, in which he imploringly urges them to avoid eternal punishment by seeking God.