Pascal's Wager

[Rivga]

Atheists get asked about this a lot, so I wanted to ask it from a different position.

So Judgement day arrives for you, you see a light and follow it. As your eyes come accustom to the light you see a figure sat on a chair, you can feel is divinity.

So far so good, there is an afterlife and your off to Heaven, but …

...Sat in that chair is a huge figure with the body of a man and the head of an Elephant, Lord Ganesha – Lord of Beginnings and Remover of Obstacles, Lord of the Ganas, Son of Shiva (the Supreme Being).
Who would have know that the oldest of the main religions was actually right.

To make matters worst he is not a happy camper, and his anger is directed towards you,

“How could you have rejected the true Gods?”
“All the signs have been placed before you”
“how could you have worshiped a false God,”
“How could you have not known when 70 million others followed the true path?”

What are you going to say?
Do you think he would be morally correct to punish you (or Shiva if you object to his son dishing out punishments)?

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Atheists get asked about this a lot, so I wanted to ask it from a different position.

So Judgement day arrives for you, you see a light and follow it. As your eyes come accustom to the light you see a figure sat on a chair, you can feel is divinity.

So far so good, there is an afterlife and your off to Heaven, but …

...Sat in that chair is a huge figure with the body of a man and the head of an Elephant, Lord Ganesha – Lord of Beginnings and Remover of Obstacles, Lord of the Ganas, Son of Shiva (the Supreme Being).
Who would have know that the oldest of the main religions was actually right.

To make matters worst he is not a happy camper, and his anger is directed towards you,

“How could you have rejected the true Gods?”
“All the signs have been placed before you”
“how could you have worshiped a false God,”
“How could you have not known when 70 million others followed the true path?”

What are you going to say?
Do you think he would be morally correct to punish you (or Shiva if you object to his son dishing out punishments)?

I'm going say to the Big Elephant Man, "You're not supposed to be here, because Pascal already told us in the rest of the Pensees (for those who cared enough to read it all) that you are basically a figment of people's imaginations."

 

[looking_for_answers_]

Atheists get asked about this a lot, so I wanted to ask it from a different position.

So Judgement day arrives for you, you see a light and follow it. As your eyes come accustom to the light you see a figure sat on a chair, you can feel is divinity.

So far so good, there is an afterlife and your off to Heaven, but …

...Sat in that chair is a huge figure with the body of a man and the head of an Elephant, Lord Ganesha – Lord of Beginnings and Remover of Obstacles, Lord of the Ganas, Son of Shiva (the Supreme Being).
Who would have know that the oldest of the main religions was actually right.

To make matters worst he is not a happy camper, and his anger is directed towards you,

“How could you have rejected the true Gods?”
“All the signs have been placed before you”
“how could you have worshiped a false God,”
“How could you have not known when 70 million others followed the true path?”

What are you going to say?
Do you think he would be morally correct to punish you (or Shiva if you object to his son dishing out punishments)?

Simultaneously bringing up both the ethical problem with hell and the reason most arguments for God brought up by Christians are basically pointless since they don't actually point to Yahweh.

 

[dreadnought]

Atheists get asked about this a lot, so I wanted to ask it from a different position.

So Judgement day arrives for you, you see a light and follow it. As your eyes come accustom to the light you see a figure sat on a chair, you can feel is divinity.

So far so good, there is an afterlife and your off to Heaven, but …

...Sat in that chair is a huge figure with the body of a man and the head of an Elephant, Lord Ganesha – Lord of Beginnings and Remover of Obstacles, Lord of the Ganas, Son of Shiva (the Supreme Being).
Who would have know that the oldest of the main religions was actually right.

To make matters worst he is not a happy camper, and his anger is directed towards you,

“How could you have rejected the true Gods?”
“All the signs have been placed before you”
“how could you have worshiped a false God,”
“How could you have not known when 70 million others followed the true path?”

What are you going to say?
Do you think he would be morally correct to punish you (or Shiva if you object to his son dishing out punishments)?

According to your argument, there could be hundreds of competing gods out there, and if we don't pick the right one, we are doomed. But that's not how it works.

We are judged by whether or not we loved our Creator with all our hearts, minds, and souls, and loved our neighbors as ourselves.

 

[looking_for_answers_]

According to your argument, there could be hundreds of competing gods out there, and if we don't pick the right one, we are doomed. But that's not how it works.

We are judged by whether or not we loved our Creator with all our hearts, minds, and souls, and loved our neighbors as ourselves.

Which you can't do unless you pick the right Creator first, so...

 

[apogee]

I would apologise on behalf of Christian apologists everywhere, for overlooking his obvious intervention in human history, and then humbly offer him the finest bag of peanuts I could acquire in the afterlife.

 

[dreadnought]

Which you can't do unless you pick the right Creator first, so...

There's only one Creator; talk to him.

 

[dreadnought]

I would apologise on behalf of Christian apologists everywhere, for overlooking his obvious intervention in human history, and then humbly offer him the finest bag of peanuts I could acquire in the afterlife.

And some fresh squeezed orange juice.

 

[apogee]

In all honesty, I can see no merit in Pascal's wager. I mean St Paul's take on this was actually the reverse of Pascal's "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men" 1 Corinthians 15 (although to be fair life was generally a bit tougher for first century Christians)

 

[apogee]

besides gambling is clearly frowned upon in Hinduism

 

[dreadnought]

besides gambling is clearly frowned upon in Hinduism

And maybe an order of French fries.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

In all honesty, I can see no merit in Pascal's wager. I mean St Paul's take on this was actually the reverse of Pascal's "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men" 1 Corinthians 15 (although to be fair life was generally a bit tougher for first century Christians)

...basically, despite all of the trumped up misrepresentation that Pascal's Wager receives from skeptics and unbelievers, it really is nothing more than a suggestion by Pascal for a person to place himself or herself into the best possible position (i.e. stand within close earshot of the Church and it's teaching) until such a time he or she finds faith. It's not a stand in for faith. And I'm not sure why Pascal's wager always gets trounced on so heavily. My guess is that no one reads the Pensees in full, so more often than not, people take his whole 'gamble' out of the full context in which he placed it.

Peace,
2PhiloVoid

 

[Halbhh]

Atheists get asked about this a lot, so I wanted to ask it from a different position.

So Judgement day arrives for you, you see a light and follow it. As your eyes come accustom to the light you see a figure sat on a chair, you can feel is divinity.

So far so good, there is an afterlife and your off to Heaven, but …

...Sat in that chair is a huge figure with the body of a man and the head of an Elephant, Lord Ganesha – Lord of Beginnings and Remover of Obstacles, Lord of the Ganas, Son of Shiva (the Supreme Being).
Who would have know that the oldest of the main religions was actually right.

To make matters worst he is not a happy camper, and his anger is directed towards you,

“How could you have rejected the true Gods?”
“All the signs have been placed before you”
“how could you have worshiped a false God,”
“How could you have not known when 70 million others followed the true path?”

What are you going to say?
Do you think he would be morally correct to punish you (or Shiva if you object to his son dishing out punishments)?

Might the one true God say truly helpful to life things like:

"Love your neighbor as yourself"

"Forgive your brother from your heart"

"So in everything, do to others as you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets"

The only solutions to life that can lead to lasting peace that is real, instead of a mere armistice...

Makes sense, once you learn enough history, that the one true God would say such to us as commandments.

So, hearing those, I'd definitely want to hear more from that source!

 

[Willie T]

I kind of feel that if you have never lived with killing another human being (or even over a hundred), then you have no concept of how much Jesus is the way.

 

[FireDragon76]

...basically, despite all of the trumped up misrepresentation that Pascal's Wager receives from skeptics and unbelievers, it really is nothing more than a suggestion by Pascal for a person to place himself or herself into the best possible position (i.e. stand within close earshot of the Church and it's teaching) until such a time he or she finds faith. It's not a stand in for faith. And I'm not sure why Pascal's wager always gets trounced on so heavily. My guess is that no one reads the Pensees in full, so more often than not, people take his whole 'gamble' out of the full context in which he placed it.

Peace,
2PhiloVoid

Indeed. Pascal was a crypto-Jansenist, and so believed faith was ultimately a gift of God's grace. But he did believe there were practical steps people could take, as you said, so that the possibility of hearing about the Gospel was there. If you reject even the possibility of hearing the Gospel, short of an extraordinary miracle, you are not going to have faith.

 

[Stormy]

I think.. I will just wake up, turn over and go back to sleep

 

[Chesterton]

...Sat in that chair is a huge figure with the body of a man and the head of an Elephant, Lord Ganesha – Lord of Beginnings...

Why would the Lord of Beginnings have a body? Made of matter, I assume?

 

[Occams Barber]

C'mon guyz

There's enough tap dancing in these replies to make three Fred Astaire movies.

You've effectively been asked why you've chosen Christianity over any other religion and you're all running for cover. In real terms few of you would know Ganesha from your average circus elephant so your first answer should be "I don't know". Most of you, (like me) have no idea of the nature of Hinduistic religion and its gods.

Secondly:The real reason you are Christians has a lot to do with the culture you were raised in. This is why Hindus produce Hindus, Zoroastrians produce Zoroastrians and Christians produce Christians.

There is no proof that you are right or that 'they' are right and pretending otherwise is unjustified and irrational.

Let's face it - you believe because you believe. It's that simple.
OB

 

[Larniavc]

There's only one Creator; talk to him.

I think you are missing the point. Pascal’s wager is a flawed premise.

 

[Chesterton]

You've effectively been asked why you've chosen Christianity over any other religion and you're all running for cover. In real terms few of you would know Ganesha from your average circus elephant so your first answer should be "I don't know".

Au contraire. I didn't run; I addressed the issue directly. How is the creator of matter made of matter?