THE WAGER

(also, Pascal’s Wager)

The famous argument popularized by Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) which made an argument for the truthfulness of God’s existence based upon a “wager.” “If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing.” The idea here is that since reason alone may not provide sufficient and undeniable proof, we are left with either acceptance or denial. But if we accept God and we are wrong, we are none the worse than if we did not accept him. But if we deny God and are wrong, the consequences are tremendous. The best option is to accept God.