Monday, 27 December 2010

• The Human Paradox: A Review of "Christianity for Modern Pagans" by Blaise Pascal

  This book is absolutely breathtaking in its apologetic strength; it is worth reading, or at least worth considering its ideas.

  Blaise Pascal was the literal splitting away from the burgeoning newer philosophy of the Enlightenment; he was a contemporary of the hailed “Father of Modern Philosophy”, Descarte, and famously disagreed with his method of reasoning from himself to God, or reasoning from the only “knowables”—that is, his own existence and conscience. He disagreed that cold rationalism was the only means to know anything; though he used reasoning as a tool to present many of his own arguments concerning the human condition as well as theological truths. In this way, he represented the branching apart of the medieval concepts of the “enchanted” viewpoint of the World (that still maintained a certain level of reasoning and philosophy), and the cold, intolerant pure-reasoning of the Enlightenment era. He was a kind of bridge of the “Edwardsian” view of the world, with one foot planted firmly in the medieval and God-centered view of the world, and one planted in the  Newtonian, scientific view. He used science often and to great lengths himself, inventing the first computer and public transportation system  but also saw its limitations in explaining or solving the great human problem of sin and search for meaning . With his collected pensees, he presents the problem of the human condition (the paradox of being aware of a problem, and not being able to solve it; of longing to be good, but being unable to), with striking simplicity. He also provides the answer to the problem in no uncertain terms.

  Summary

  Through snippets of proverbial wisdom, Pascal guides the reader through the mindset of mankind because of the Fall. He begins by presenting the problem in such an obvious way (even to those in denial of the problem of sin and the existence of God), that it is very much like looking in a mirror oftentimes. He uncovers with effortless skill the human visage of surety, nobility, and apparent goodness, and reveals the vanity, fear, and shameful selfishness that exists in all of us. He does it in an apologetic manner—beginning with observations “we all” could agree on, and then progressing to grittier, harder-to-bear observations of humanity that cut gradually away from humanity in general, and centers on the individual reading his pensees.

  He begins by pointing out the wretchedness of humanity in general. There is an obvious longing for peace, goodness, purity, and righteousness that makes us utterly dejected in light of the actual world around us; he utilizes the argument that is now associated with C.S. Lewis, the great Problem of Evil that points to our being aware of a perfection that should be, though it isn’t. It causes us to feel miserable in spite of ourselves; it causes us to feel there is something greatly amiss and that should be fixed, though we perpetuate the problem as individuals all the while through greed, lust, and selfishness. He explains how this is a great paradox, because humans, while wretched, weak, and animalistic, display strains of wonderful Divinity as well. We are aware, thinking, feeling, rational, conscious beings that long for something beyond the merely physical; we are immortal, soulish, and relational. There is a greatness that has been given to us that grapples with the wretchedness, and turns us into dissatisfied beings, though we cannot always tell why we are so dissatisfied.

  He points out how we cannot escape this in any human-made way—human justice is flawed because we are flawed, and the same goes for human philosophy and reasoning. We are all grasping, vain, deeply self-centered beings who cannot seem to be happy with anything in this world. Because we cannot remedy our situation or permanently change society (let alone ourselves), we attempt to divert our attention elsewhere through escapism, or admit there is a problem and feign indifference.

  He alludes to their being a hope, however, by pointing out that truth is something that can be attained and is the Answer to this great problem. Truth-seeking requires humility and the willingness to admit that human faculties are limited in providing an answer all our own.  Pascal asserts that the atheist and the agnostic and all those attempting to find some other way but for the Christian God are not seeking truth with all their heart—but that only those who seek with groans, thought it is painful, and are not satisfied with anything but the ultimate truth will be satisfied with knowledge of God.

  He defends the reliability of scripture as a means to know God and his truths by showing how the events leading up to its existence could not have been coincidental or by mere human effort; that the apostles would not have kept to martyrdom/passionate preaching of the gospel and distribution of the Word had they known it was all a lie, or had they all been delusional, or had no one seen the risen Christ. He defends the legitimate history of the Jews as a pointing to the one true God (their culture, their story as proof of their Divine origins), and defends miracles and the divine by arguing that if there are so many false ones, they must be frauding a true one (both for miracles, and religion).

  He then brings it around to the uniqueness, elegance, and obvious truth of Christianity as the Ultimate Truth. He points out the fact that it is the only religion that accounts for the polar extremes, the paradox of man (his wretchedness and simultaneous kingliness, divinity), and also, that no other religion’s god humbles himself for the sake of his people. There is a deep, paradoxal beauty to the whole of it that is too wonderful to have been drawn up, and out-shines the whole of other beliefs.

  “Christianity is strange—it bids man to recognize that he is vile, even abominable, and bids him want to be like God. Without such a counterweight his exaltation would make him horribly vain or his abasement horribly abject.” (pg. 279).

  “Wretchedness produces despair; pride produces presumption. The Incarnation shows man the greatness of his wretchedness through the greatness of the remedy required.”  (pg. 280)

  Finally, he offers his famous wager, which is to say, that if God is real and we live as though he is real, then we gain everything; if he is not real and we live as though he was real, we gain at least a good and moral life. If he is real and we live as though he were not real, then we lose everything; and if he is not real and we live as though he were not real, then we lose a good life. Therefore, it seems most reasonable to choose Christ. He points out how wretchedness and purposelessness reigns without knowing Christ—therefore, life is all the better with him, whether or not we can prove him through mere empirical data.

  Critique

  Pascal is crystal clear and extremely thorough in his arguments and the purpose for his arguments—he states that there is a problem with humanity, points out the obvious, and points to the obvious solution. That is what is so nice about his reasoning and proverbs—that they act as patronizingly obvious pointers to God, tempting one to hit his forehead with regret over having not seen that in the first place. He is not out to impress with words or with his ability to unravel complex ideas, though he certainly probably could given his great intellect and book knowledge—he simply gives us the “brass tacks” of existence, all we need know for the meaning of life and the goodness and preservation of our souls. It is a generous self-denial, the reader senses, for his efforts are pure, and he does not attempt to to impress—but this very attitude, and his effectiveness at cutting to the very heart of man is in itself impressive. We breathe a sigh of relief that there seems to be no pretention in his words—yet this very lack of pretention causes the sweetest pain of realization at our own condition. Biblically and theologically, he is right on the money, and this makes his arguments all the more potent. His arguments for the human condition echoe Romans 1 and onward, and even the likes of Calvin or Luther.

  His only weakness may be that the style is especially unique—he offers good reasons for his beliefs that draw from observation and experience, but he does not offer plain research or biblical texts. It is thorough, yet not academically exhaustive. Undoubtedly, his Christian leanings effect his Christian perspective and arguments—but Pascal defends his leanings by arguing for the elegance of Christianity apparent in itself, and not just because it seems apparent to him.

  His presentation is unique from other works of apologetics, because it is given through proverbs and small pensees—but this certainly complements the efforts of other theological and Christian philosophical works. While unique in its approach, it enhances and backs the more exhaustive works through it simplicity and potency.

  Conclusion

  Christianity for Modern Pagans is a troubling, thrilling, convicting, and extremely effective approach to Christian apologetics that does not center too much on reasoning to prove Christianity, but it cause the reader to acknowledge the truths of his soul before God. It is beautiful and extremely beneficial to read for not just the teacher of apologetics or the pastor, but for the layman and the agnostic, the atheist and the Buddhist –it is valuable for its beauty and honesty as well for its shamelessness in revealing the truth of Christ.

  Have you ever read Christianity for Modern Pagans?  What do you think about this approach to Christianity and apologetics?

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