Gospel & Universe 🍏 Starting Points
A Brave New Deal
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In his Pensées (Thoughts), the 17th century philosopher Blaise Pascal writes,
Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God exists. Let us estimate these two cases: if you win, you win everything; if you lose, you lose nothing.
Many people argue that “Pascal’s bet” is a benevolent, charitable one. Yet why does Pascal say that if you don’t bet on God you’ll lose nothing? Clearly, you’ll lose the “everything” that you would have got by believing.
So, God’s favour is dependent on belief, at least according to Pascal. God may not save you if you believe, but He’ll make you pay if you don’t. The bet boils down to, Bet on God or face the consequences.
I’d suggest a different pact. Not with the Devil, but with a different sort of God. A God that doesn’t deny or punish you just because you doubt or disbelieve. A God who even takes it as a compliment if you doubt or disbelieve, given that He’s gone to such lengths to hide Himself.
I imagine that God would question our obsession with belief — or rather, with beliefs, given that there are so many versions of capitalized Truth and so many people who profess to have found It. God might well ask, “Who among you dares to say that you know My nature, My mind, or My ways? Who will take up my gavel, and judge others in my stead? Who dares to coerce, hate, or kill in My name? This I cannot accept. I have no problem with those who worship celestial beings with dog ears, sacred rivers that are goddesses, rock stars, the breasts of women, golden sunsets, or golden calves. But I can’t accept coercion, hatred, and murder in my name. In this regard, there’a a crucial difference between contradiction and paradox. I love God but hate those who don’t believe is a contradiction. I believe in tolerance, but can’t tolerate intolerance is a paradox.”
“Who among you is certain you’ve heard, seen, or otherwise verified my existence? Who knows for sure that I spoke to Moses, that Gabriel got his words from Me, or that the Eastern poets and mystics have stirred the essence of My Soul?”
“Some of you are ready to kill others if they don’t believe what you believe. Some of you tell your children they’ll go to Hell if they don’t believe. Some of you talk condescendingly about doubting Thomas and the permissive West. And yet I’ve always considered belief to be optional. I even find belief a bit odd, given the frightening versions of Me that people have concocted in My absence. Just ask the Sodomites.”
“With all due respect to Pascal, I have a counter offer, a Brave New Deal. In this Deal you have three options. You can either 1. Believe in a God that’s benevolent, 2. Hope that a benevolent God exists, or 3. Believe there’s no God. Any of these are fine with Me. You can even go from one to the other. It’s a free universe, or at least I’ve tried to make it so.”
“The only thing I won’t tolerate is disparaging, coercing, threatening, decapitating, hanging, or burning at the stake people who don’t share your belief. Suffice it to say, You sow what you reap, not what you believe.”
“Remember, in this Deal I’m benevolent. I won’t bite you if you reach out in the dark and try to touch Me. Or if you utter poems to the stars and moon. Or if you see beauty in the eyes of another. Or if you search for truth in ocean trenches or mountain peaks, in winding back alleys or geometrical proofs.”
“You’re free to fabricate stories about arks and monkey kings, about debates with the King of Hell, or about monologues in which I say this or That. You’re free to question everything, to think freely about the infinite universe I created. It’s infinite for a reason.”
“Remember this: I am benevolent. This isn’t a pact with the Devil.”
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