Blaise Pascal was an outstanding French mathematician, physicist and inventor; an intellectual great in human history. He was a child prodigy. At the age of eleven, he had already established fundamental geometric theorems that are still valid today.

Later, his outstanding knowledge enabled him to develop and justify the principles of probability theory. He established principles of logical thinking that are still valid today.

Pascal developed the first calculating machine when his father was a customs officer and had to spend his time on time-consuming calculations. It was the decisive basis for the development of modern calculating machines.

Pascal made many inventions and formulated important theorems. He came to personal faith in Jesus Christ at the age of 31. He later wrote a defence of the Christian faith, but was unable to complete this work as he died at the age of 39.

The modern and still popular learning language for computers is named after him - Pascal.

This great mind put the probability of God's existence at a fair 50:50. His thoughts went down in history under the name „Pascal's wager“.

But if God exists, then everything, really everything, would be lost for you. You would die and then have to give an account to God. Or do you believe that God will put up with it if you ignore him? You would have taken everything here with you and still lost everything.

Pascal's pointed reflection makes clear what Jesus Christ said earlier:

„What does a person gain if he wins the whole world but loses his life in the end?“

The Bible says:

„He who has the Son of God has life. But he who does not have the Son does not have life.“ (The Bible: Matthew 16:26; 1 John 5:12 Good News Translation)

Dr Viggo Olson, a well-known surgeon, came into contact with Blaise Pascal's statements. He and his wife fought tooth and nail against the Christian faith. They gathered together all the arguments against it and slid step by step into an unrivalled adventure. Dr Olson reports on this in his book „Can you escape God?“

WHAT BROUGHT ABOUT THE TURNAROUND?

By reading the Bible, they came to a living faith in Jesus Christ. Blaise Pascal's theory of probability and its application to the truth claims of the biblical-Christian faith was a decisive help to them. The so-called „Pascal's wager“. (Note: This is about the basis of the Christian faith according to the Bible, not about church traditions).

PASCAL: THE BETTER DECISION

The surgeon reports: „Blaise Pascal dealt in depth with the same decision that we are facing today.“

He came to the conclusion that every reasonable person would have to decide in favour of Jesus Christ, even if the chances of the Christian doctrine being correct were only 50:50. Here is his reasoning:

In this game we call life, everyone has to make a bet. Every bet is a wager. A person must either stake their life on the assertion that the Christian doctrine is true or on the assertion that it is not true. If a person does not enter into this bet, he places automatically to the possibility that it is not true.

FIRST POSSIBILITY

Let's assume that a person decides in favour of the biblical-Christian faith: if he is right in his assumption, he has everything to gain. If he is wrong in his assumption, he has nothing to lose.

SECOND POSSIBILITY

Let's assume that a person decides AGAINST the Christian faith: if he is right in this assumption, he has gained nothing. But if he is wrong with this assumption, he has lost everything.

Dr Olson says of himself: „Having been a passionate gambler in the past, I could easily follow Pascal's argument. I said to my wife that his argument is based on an outright 50:50 probability that the Christian faith is correct. However, Pascal does not take into account the countless proofs for the truth of Christian doctrine. We later discovered that Pascal had also mentioned the search for evidence.“

I would like to make a brief reference to evidence afterwards. Evidence in favour of one side or the other can be a great help in making the right and therefore best decision.

The principle of probability shows that it is worth making the effort to find out the truth. Because this effort is richly rewarded.

Dr Olson continues: „During this time, I came to a clear realisation about faith. I saw that millions of people call themselves Christians. But in reality, they are not true Christians because their faith has become dull and sick.“

„Let's assume,“ I said to my wife, „that two patients are suffering from the same fatal illness. They both think I'm a skilful doctor. They believe that my diagnosis is correct. They also believe that the injection I have prescribed will save them from death. One of them has the injection and survives. The other, despite the trust he has in me and my treatment, has an illogical fear of injections and therefore refuses them. He dies.“

What is the difference?

Both patients had faith, both believed in the healing power of medicine.

CONSIDER WHAT WE CAN GAIN:

• Forgiveness of our guilt by grace without merit
• A loving relationship with God
• A changed life with different wishes and goals
• A new inner strength to live
• Eternal happy life in completely different dimensions
• We will not be annihilated for eternity. (According to the Bible, there is no eternal torment in hell).

Familiarisation with evidence:

Prophecies: The Bible is the only book that contains precise predictions about long periods of time. There are hundreds of fulfilled prophecies that we can verify. They clearly show that the Bible is of divine origin, as humans have no such foreknowledge.

The Bible itself is a miracle: This book about God's way of salvation was written by 40 men over a period of 1,600 years and contains 66 books. The miracle is that the content is the same.

The results of archaeology: The excavations have brought a wealth of facts to light. Archaeology confirms the Bible.

Change in our lives: Individuals can experience the power of God in their own lives. They can be certain that their sins are forgiven. They can be certain of their own resurrection and eternal life. Through Christ, everyone can lead a life full of meaning and significance.

I think it's good if we don't make an emotional decision, but weigh the weight of the evidence.

Getting to know the Bible:

Reading the Bible: It is important that we familiarise ourselves with the Bible. I recommend reading the New Testament first, as it is closer to us in terms of time and presents us with the life of Jesus in particular. Then it is good to read the Old Testament. We should always do this prayerfully and ask God to guide us in our understanding.

Bible correspondence courses: There are good free written courses for beginners and advanced students that can help us familiarise ourselves with the Bible. You can do such a study alone or with others.

Bible discussion groups: It is a good opportunity to discuss the Bible in a small group at home. Nowadays it is also possible to take part in Bible discussions via computer, e.g. Skype.

Biblical lectures: This is also a good way to gain basic knowledge about the Word of God.

Doubters: People who have honest doubts can receive help to make a good decision. One possibility is to pray in the following sense:

It is not the exact wording that matters, but that we mean it honestly. Jesus says that he who is willing to do the will of God will receive knowledge. (John 7:17) However, no one, neither God nor man, can help those who deliberately want to doubt.

Today, thinking people are increasingly engaging with the Bible. In doing so, they are making a subtle distinction. One presenter put it like this: „I have nothing against God, but a lot against his ‘ground staff’.“

Many people suspect that there must be something to God. They ask: Could I find the meaning of life through this?