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“The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know.” -Blaise Pascal “If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name at a Swiss bank.” -Woody Allen The humorous remark of the famous movie director, Woody Allen, touches upon the serious question, “does God exist?” It is a question that has inspired and forced philosophers to argue one way or another. Some believe that God does not exist because there is no real evidence for His existence. They argue that the world would be better off if religion and especially Christianity would disappear. On the other hand, many claim that God does exist and that creation reveals Him to us. They state that Christianity has been a boon to mankind and has had a beneficent effect upon the human race. Clearly, both sides of the debate are well prepared to take on such a heavy task and do little to help resolve the problem. Blaise Pascal, philosopher and scientist, believed that such an important questioned deserved an answer. Although he claimed close ties to Jansenist Christianity, his approach and response has been embraced by Agnostics whom hold that it is impossible to know if God exists. The unique thing about Pascal’s wager was that it tips the scale in favor of Christianity merely because he feels that it is the safest bet. Surely, the brilliance of Pascal lives on in his fascinating approach and answer to one of the greatest questions confronting philosophers. To begin with, Pascal avoids going into drawn out arguments for or against the existence of God unlike other philosophers. Perhaps it will be worthwhile examining one of the rather engaging ideas of two philosophers dealing with the problem of evil, in order to better understand the innovative and unorthodox conclusion of Pascal’s wager. The problem of evil is a serious objection to the existence of a God who is omnipotent, omniscient and omni-benevolent.
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