Editing Pascal's wager (section)

=== Argument from inauthentic belief ===

Some critics argue that Pascal's wager, for those who cannot believe, suggests feigning belief to gain eternal reward. [[Richard Dawkins]] argues that this would be dishonest and immoral and that, in addition to this, it is absurd to think that God, being just and omniscient, would not see through this deceptive strategy on the part of the "believer", thus nullifying the benefits of the wager.<ref name="The God Delusion" /> [[William James]] in his '[[Will to Believe]]' states that "We feel that a faith in masses and holy water adopted wilfully after such a mechanical calculation would lack the inner soul of faith's reality; and if we were ourselves in the place of the Deity, we should probably take particular pleasure in cutting off believers of this pattern from their infinite reward. It is evident that unless there be some pre-existing tendency to believe in masses and holy water, the option offered to the will by Pascal is not a living option".<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Baily |editor1-first=Andrew |title=The Broadview Introduction to Philosophy: Concise Edition |date=2024 |publisher=Broadview Press |page=68}}</ref>

Since these criticisms are concerned not with the validity of the wager itself, but with its possible aftermath—namely that a person who has been convinced of the overwhelming odds in favor of belief might still find themself unable to sincerely believe—they are tangential to the thrust of the wager. What such critics are objecting to is Pascal's subsequent advice to an unbeliever who, having concluded that the only rational way to wager is in favor of God's existence, points out, reasonably enough, that this by no means makes them a believer. This hypothetical unbeliever complains, "I am so made that I cannot believe. What would you have me do?"<ref name="Pensée #72"/> Pascal, far from suggesting that God can be deceived by outward show, says that God does not regard it at all: "God looks only at what is inward."<ref name="Pensée #72"/> For a person who is already convinced of the odds of the wager but cannot seem to put their heart into the belief, he offers practical advice.

Explicitly addressing the question of inability to believe, Pascal argues that if the wager is valid, the inability to believe is irrational, and therefore must be caused by feelings: "your inability to believe, because reason compels you to [believe] and yet you cannot, [comes] from your passions." This inability, therefore, can be overcome by diminishing these irrational sentiments: "Learn from those who were bound like you. . . . Follow the way by which they began; by acting as if they believed, taking the holy water, having masses said, etc. Even this will naturally make you believe, and deaden your acuteness.—'But this is what I am afraid of.'—And why? What have you to lose?"<ref>''Pensée'' #233. Gérard Ferreyrolles, ed. Paris: Librairie Générale Française, 2000.</ref>

An uncontroversial doctrine in both Roman Catholic and Protestant theology is that mere belief in God is insufficient to attain salvation, the standard cite being [https://biblehub.com/kjv/james/2.htm James 2:19] ([[King James Version|KJV]]): "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." Salvation requires "faith" not just in the sense of belief, but of trust and obedience. Pascal and [https://iep.utm.edu/pascal-j/ his sister], a nun, were among the leaders of Roman Catholicism's [[Jansenism|Jansenist school of thought]] whose doctrine of salvation was close to Protestantism in emphasizing faith over works. Both Jansenists and Protestants followed [[Augustine of Hippo|St. Augustine]] in this emphasis (Martin Luther belonged to the [[Order of Saint Augustine|Augustinian Order]] of monks). Augustine wrote

{{Quotation| So our faith has to be distinguished from the faith of the demons. Our faith, you see, purifies the heart, their faith makes them guilty. They act wickedly, and so they say to the Lord, "What have you to do with us?" When you hear the demons saying this, do you imagine they don't recognize him? "We know who you are," they say. "You are the Son of God" (Lk 4:34). Peter says this and he is praised for it; 14 the demon says it, and is condemned. Why's that, if not because the words may be the same, but the heart is very different? So let us distinguish our faith, and see that believing is not enough. That's not the sort of faith that purifies the heart.<ref>DTK, "A Person is Justified by Works - (James 2:14-26)", ''Puritanboard.com'',  https://www.puritanboard.com/threads/a-person-is-justified-by-works-james-2-14-26.13531/,  (May 2, 2006) viewed January 21, 2021, citing John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., ed.,''WSA, Sermons, Part 3, Vol. 3,'' trans. Edmund Hill, O.P., "Sermon 53.11" (Brooklyn: New City Press, 1991), p. 71. DTK collects several other Augustine quotes on the topic, with similarly precise citations.</ref>}}

Since Pascal's position was that "saving" belief in God required more than [[Logical assertion|logical assent]], accepting the wager could only be a first step. Hence his advice on what steps one could take to arrive at belief.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

Some other critics{{who|date=October 2019}} have objected to Pascal's wager on the grounds that he wrongly assumes what type of epistemic character God would likely value in his rational creatures if he existed.{{cn|date=December 2024}}
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Richard Dawkins asks whether the so-called "God" would prefer honest people who did good to society without believing in it or hedge-betters like Pascal. -->

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