Blaise Pascal wrote the Pensees to his skeptical and restless
friends to move them to seek God. The Pensees are widely regarded
as one of the most exhilarating and effective defenses of the
Christian faith ever written, particularly for today's readers who
resemble Pascal's friends. This comprehensive guided tour of
Pascal's Pensees, plus biography of Pascal's courageous life, aims
to benefit seekers and believers by conveying Pascal's insights
into: (1) Why a human being is miserable without God; (2) Why
Christianity uniquely offers a winsome and efficacious cure; and
(3) Why Christianity, despite modern objections, is plausibly true.
The greatest significance of Pascal's Pensees may be their
compelling articulation of the unique relevance of Christ's gospel
for our time. In T.S. Eliot's words, "But I can think of no
Christian writer, not Newman even, more to be commended than Pascal
to those who doubt, but who have the mind to conceive, and the
sensibility to feel, the disorder, the futility, the
meaninglessness, the mystery of life and suffering, and who can
only find peace through a satisfaction of the whole being."
Pascal's signature Pensee undergirding the themes of this guided
tour is number 148: "What else does this craving proclaim but that
there was once in man a true state of happiness, of which all that
now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to
fill with everything around him though none can help, since this
infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable
object, in other words by God himself." Through this Pensee and
many others Pascal wakes us up to appreciate that we may have a
God-shaped vacuum in our heart, as suggested, for example, by our
affinity for diversions and indifference as ways to avoid
addressing our grimmest problems such as our impending deaths,
unhappiness, and unjust self-absorption. The Pensees in particular
address how a person this side of the technological revolution can
seriously consider Christian truth and life in the face of
contemporary countervailing currents including scientism, cynicism,
and entertainment culture. Pascal's case for why to seek and
believe is especially relevant for today because he wrote to modern
secular society, to ambitious pursuers of career success, to the
bored and indifferent, to intellectual skeptics. In contrast,
classical rational apologetics hardly penetrate this group, because
they neglect the readers' psychology, mistakenly pre-supposing they
are open to seeking God. By combining style, wit, and reasoned
arguments to move both the heart and mind, Pascal's Pensees are
known for setting his listeners on fire to take up an interest in
seeking. The Pensees will appeal to those who enjoy brilliant
writing and wish to gain deeper insight into the human condition.
As Professor Henry Phillips put it, "Pascal offers a portrait of
the human condition that provokes questions whose answers will be
found only in the Christian religion." The Pensees are especially
on target for readers who struggle with how a reasonable person
living in today's technological era can be a Christian; for these
Pascal is indispensible reading and the ultimate mentor. In
addition to helping seekers work out their doubts about belief,
this guided tour aims to make Pascal's thoughts practically helpful
for a Christian to live life congruently with the gospel, and in
particular to better weather modern doubts and criticisms. This
book was inspired by the excellent guided tour of the Pensees
(Christianity for Modern Pagans, 1993) by Professor Peter Kreeft,
and from learning that many fellow Christians count the Pensees as
one of their all-time most helpful reads. Given the stature of
Pascal as a colossal Christian thinker, it is surprising that very
few comprehensive guided tours with objective to help modern
seekers and believers have been published, and this book helps fill
this space. Forward by Reverand Earl F.
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