QotD: Pascal's Wager, the atheist, and the agnostic

I have heard Pascal's Wager in the past, but it struck me afresh last night as Dinesh D'Souza unpacked it in his book, What's so great about Christianity?

Pascal's Wager considers the existence of God philosophically (really, Pascal directed it toward the atheist, the apatheist, and the agnostic).  He looks to death and considers, what's the risk? Dinesh D'Souza takes it from here (italics mine):

If we have faith in God and it turns out that God does not exist, we have a downside risk: metaphysical error. But if we reject God during our lives, and it turns out God does exist, there is much more serious risk: eternal separation from God.  Based on these two possible outcomes, Pascal declares that it is much less risky to have faith in God. In the face of an uncertain outcome, no rational person would refuse to give up something that is finite if there is the possibility of gaining an infinite prize. In fact, under these conditions it is unreasonable not to believe. Pascal writes, "let us weigh up the gain and loss involved in calling heads that God exists. If you win, you win everything. If you lose, you lose nothing. Do not hesitate, then: wager that He does exist."


The ingenuity of Pascal's argument is that it emphasizes the practical necessity of making a choice. This necessity is imposed by death. There comes a day when there are no tomorrows, and then we all have to cast our votes for or against the proposition on the ballot.  The unavoidability of the decision exposes the sheer stupidity of "apatheism," the pretense that something doesn't matter when it is quite literally a matter of life and death.  The apatheist and the agnostic refuse to choose when there is no option to abstain.  So the refusal to choose becomes a choice--a choice against God.


Pascal also exposes the pose of the atheist who fancies himself as a brave and lonely man facing the abyss. We admire a man who is steadfast in the face of unavoidable adversity. If we knew we were alone in the universe and that death was the end, then there is no alternative but to stand tough in our mortal skins and curse the darkness. But what would we think of a man who stands ready to face a horrible fate that he has a chance to avert? If you are trapped in the den with a hungry lion, and there is a door that may offer a way out, what sane person would refuse to jump through the door? Viewed this way, the atheist position becomes a kind of intransigence, a reckless man's decision to play Russian roulette with his soul.


Atheists sometimes express their bafflement over why God would not make his presence more obvious. Carl Sagan helpfully suggests that in order to dispel all doubts about his existence, "God could have engraved the Ten Commandments on the moon."  Pascal supplies a plausible reason for what he calls the hiddenness of God.  Perhaps, he writes, God wants to hide himself from those who have no desire to encounter him while revealing himself to those whose hearts are open to him. If God were to declare himself beyond our ability to reject him, then he would be forcing himself on us. Pascal remarks that perhaps God wants to be known not by everyone but only by the creatures who seek him.

Dinesh D'Souza, What's so great about Christianity, pp. 202-203