Breaking Hell’s Spell
Submitted by Barrett Evans
You should first of all know … that the diversity of men in religions and creeds, plus the disagreement of the Community of Islam about doctrines, given the multiplicity of sects and the divergency of methods, is a deep sea in which most men founder and from which only a few are saved. Each group believes that it is the one saved, and “each faction is happy about its own beliefs.”
— Al-Ghazali (c.1058–1111), classic Islamic scholar
Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) is often cited in traditional Christian apologetics for the formulation of his “Wager.” In short, Pascal’s Wager insists that a choice must be made about whether God exists: “Let us assess the two cases: if you win you win everything, if you lose you lose nothing. Do not hesitate then; wager that he does exist.” A traditional doctrine of hell is inextricably connected with Pascal’s logic. While Pascal maintained that there was no negative consequence for believing in a non-existent God, he clearly held that failing to believe in his conception of God would bring the worst conceivable consequences of a literal damnation.
In the context of both the Wager section itself and his Pensées as a whole, however, it is clear that Pascal’s choice for God’s existence was synonymous with the choice for Roman Catholicism. As scholar A. J. Krailsheimer has noted…
