We continue our tour of Blaise Pascal's thoughts today where we left off: It is when a man embraces his 'whole duty... to think as he ought' (126) that he is faced with his inadequacies within himself. We must look outward, at something higher than ourselves
"According to the doctrine of chance, you ought to put yourself to the trouble of searching for the truth; for if you die without worshipping the True Cause, you are lost." (236)
The doctrine of chance: What is this doctrine of chance to which the great mathematician and philosopher alludes? To answer this we really need to drop back to points 233 - 235 in the Pensees. Pascal starts 233 with the nothingness of the finite, moves into the infinite: "We know there is an infinite, and are ignorant of its nature." As I often tell my students, the study of mathematics is the study of the infinite. It is the study of God's language and God himself. For in the presence of the infinite numbers, we glimpse the infinite God. Pascal points out that "if there is a God, He is infinitely incomprehensible." Does this mean that God doesn't exist? No, it means that we cannot fully comprehend God because of our own limitations.
"We ought not to act on religion, for it is not certain" (234). This "doctrine of chance" is us relying on the evidence that we've seen the effect without seeing the causes. As Augustine says, "Rem viderunt, causam non viderunt." (Augustine, Pascal(235). Which brings us to searching for truth.
Search for truth. Just because we can't grasp the infinite, doesn't mean we don't search for Him. Pascal says quite the opposite. Because we can only see the effect of the infinite, we should search all the more to search for the Truth. For to die without worshipping the True Cause is to die lost. This searching in the absence of complete certainty opens the door for faith to bridge the gap.
"Faith is different from proof; the one is human, the other is a gift of God. Justus ex fide vivit. It is this faith that God Himself puts into the heart, of which the proof is often the instrument, fides ex auditu; but this faith is in the heart, and makes us not say scio, but credo."(248)
- Rem viderunt, causam non viderunt - they have seen the thing, they have not seen the cause.
- Justus ex fide vivit - The just shall live by faith
- fides ex auditu - faith comes by hearing
- scio - I know
- credo - I believe