The Apologetic Methodology Of Blaise Pascal -- By: Phil Fernandes

Journal: Christian Apologetics Journal
Volume: CAJ 06:2 (Fall 2007)
Article: The Apologetic Methodology Of Blaise Pascal
Author: Phil Fernandes


The Apologetic Methodology Of Blaise Pascal

Phil Fernandes, Ph.D.

Phil Fernandes is the President of the Institute of Biblical Defense and Pastor of Trinity Bible Fellowship, both in Bremerton, WA.

Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) was a French mathematician and scientist who is famous for his work dealing with the pressure of liquids and the theory of probability. He also designed a calculating machine, and at the age of sixteen wrote a book on geometry which caught the attention of the great mathematician Rene Descartes.1

Pascal was a devout Roman Catholic who had a vibrant faith in Jesus Christ.2 Towards the end of his life, Pascal began to write and gather notes for a book on Christian apologetics. Unfortunately, Pascal died before he completed the project. A few years after his

death, the notes were published in a book titled Pensees, which means “thoughts.”3

Since Pascal did not himself complete his task on the Pensees, readers must study Pascal’s ideas and attempt to organize them in as coherent a fashion as possible. Notable advancements have been made in this area by Tom Morris4 of Notre Dame and Peter Kreeft5 of Boston College. In this article, I will attempt to construct a basic outline of the apologetic methodology of Blaise Pascal. I will also attempt to show the contemporary relevance of the Pascalian method.

Pascal’s View of Reason

Pascal was opposed to the use of traditional proofs for God’s existence. He wrote:

The metaphysical proofs for the existence of God are so remote from human reasoning and so involved that they make little impact, and, even if they did help some people, it would only be for the moment during which they watched the demonstration, because an hour later they would be afraid they had made a mistake (190).6

And this is why I shall not undertake here to prove by reasons from nature either the existence of God, or the Trinity or the immortality of the soul, or anything of that kind: not just because I should not feel competent to find in nature arguments which would convince hardened atheists, but also because such knowledge, without Christ, is useless and sterile. Even if someone were convinced that the proportions between numbers are immaterial, eternal truths, depending on a first truth in which they subsi...

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