Pascal's Wager

This is an important point that should not get lost. Pascal's Wager is as valid for ANY religion as it is for Christianity. Thus, it fails.

 

But irrelevant if you are using it as an evangelization tool, as to an unbeliever all may indeed be viewed as equivalent. It is only as a believer that one makes the distinction.

No message at all. I just thought he looked cool. Hopefully we all have days that make us jump with joy!

 

That is a very good point. It's only validity, is that it might make a case for theism. Although, many a theists, particularly of the highly educated variety have a number of strong arguments to "poke holes" in the logic.

 

I see Pascal's Wager in a similar light. There are multiple things happening in any evangelistic endeavor, one of which is a plea to human logic -- apologetics intended to create a starting point -- there IS a probability for God. That step comes first before an atheist will even consider what that God may have said.

That being said, the biggest part of the evangelistic endeavor is not what we do or what we say, but what the Holy Spirit does in ways that we cannot understand, see, or manipulate. He will convict the heart that the words being heard are truth, He will set forth the effectual call that brings one to regeneration. None of those are things that we can humanly "argue" a person to hold.

So, if I can use Pascal or other similar apologetic logical arguments to cause someone to dwell on the things of God for even a moment, coupled with prayer that the Holy Spirit do what only He can do, I may have a chance at seeing God work in an individual in a way that brings Him glory and fulfills my mandate to be an evangelist and a discipler of the lost.

 

Benjamin,

re: "I think maybe I should just sit on the side lines on this one..."
　
Probably a good idea until you come to realize that beliefs cannot be consciously CHOSEN. I wonder, though, if you might come off the bench long enough to answer the question that I asked you in post #30?