Never Leave Them In Peace – The Apologetics of Blaise Pascal

In my previous post in this series on the apologetics of Blaise Pascal, I wrote about Pascal’s Anthropological Argument. In that argument, Pascal argued that the true religion (or worldview) must explain both the glory and horror found within the human condition. These two great contrasts are perfectly explained within the Christian story by humanity being created in the image of God and due to the effects of the Fall. 

As a reminder, Pascal never wrote a formal apologetic. Rather, he collected his thoughts, or Pensées, in a sort of pre-Twitter journal. Although many of the thoughts are brief, they are profound and powerful. The next aspect of Pascal’s apologetic vision that we are going to explore is what I’ll call his destabilization method. 

Pascal wisely recognized that we should not offer some kind of canned argument to each and every individual. Rather, our arguments and methods should be flexible to each person we are interacting with. When conversing with an unbeliever on worldview issues, Pascal intentionally wanted to destabilize the unbeliever from whatever their current position was. 

Perhaps they are an optimistic humanist, high on the current virtues and future progress that humanity’s story will entail. But… what about the violence on the evening news? The last mass shooting. The latest bombing. That latest whisper of war. That ongoing war we seem to have all forgotten about. Or what of the political division? The poverty? The scandal? The abuse? 

Ah, but maybe this optimism is inwardly seated. The humanist who is high on himself. Ought he to be? What of his greatest accomplishments? Shall any remember them 10 years after his death? 100 years after? 10 seconds after? What of his great virtue? Is it not tainted by narcissistic ambition? Does he not cast a veneer of virtue over a being of vice? 

Or maybe, we are dealing with not a humanistic, but a nihilist. The darkness and despondency of this restless expanse of matter almost too much to bear. The evil and apathy of the human race certain and overpowering. But… what of the efforts to feed the homeless? What of the millions who sacrifice their own comforts to increase the comforts of others? What of the beauty laced within the notes of classical music? Or the exhilaration of feeling our favorite painting stirs within our hearts? Charity, sacrifice, service, beauty, art, music, culture, are they really all meaningless? How can they be? 

Ah, but maybe this is recognized, but our poor fellow can’t see past his own inner weakness and frailty. Must he only wallow in his wretchedness? What of the mystery of thought within him? What of his smallest acts of selflessness, are they not mighty acts of defiance against his deepest fears? Has he nothing to boast of? Nothing more than the beasts? Certainly, we shall find something to remove his complete despair. 

And if the above is our method, then we are following Pascal’s destabilization method. Pascal put it like this, “If he exalts himself, I humble him. If he humbles himself, I exalt him. And I go on contradicting him until he understands that he is a monster that passes all understanding.” Pascal wants his intellectual rival to be sent into a spiral, to recognize this great contrast of the human experience and condition. One cannot be an optimist. One cannot be a pessimist. One must find an explanation for this monstrous reality of contradiction. 

Importantly, Pascal is not advocating any kind of deceit on the Christian apologist’s side. Rather, he is showing us the wisdom of knowing when to emphasize certain aspects of the Christian story and worldview. Pascal wants people to feel the uncomfortable pressure of living outside the Truth. The skeptic is too easily placated with shallow optimism or thin pessimism. They create a foundation which looks mighty and then distract themselves with pleasures to prevent themselves from observing the cracks. 

What Pascal is doing with his destabilization is to attempt to reawaken the unbeliever to the shortcomings of their own professed beliefs. As important as this was in Pascal’s day, I find that it is almost essential in our day. We are a culture saturated with distraction and pleasure. We are a society built upon massive contradictions. And yet, we just live like there is not a monster inside and out. 

Life has a way of waking us up from time to time, no matter how stubborn we are, providing its own forms of destabilization. Childbirth tends to be kryptonite for a pure pessimist. Death will kill even the mightiest optimist. But why wait for events of this magnitude to rethink what life means? To reimagine what we are?

As Pascal said, “There is in man some great principle of greatness and some great principle of wretchedness.” Almost every belief system in the world will fail to adequately account for one of these two great principles.  Whether it is the optimist or the pessimist, Pascal advises that, “Whatever course he adopts, I will not leave him in peace.” 

Of course, that is not our (or Pascal’s) end goal. The objective of destabilization is never to end there, but rather to clear the path toward faith in Christ. We do not leave the unbeliever in peace, only because they ought not to be there. Reality alone should be enough to awaken them. Yet, this great discomfort is designed to open the door to the great Comforter and the Prince of Peace. To shine a light on the only one who can adequately explain these two great principles of greatness and wretchedness. And not only explain them, but also rescue us from the wretchedness within us and all around us. 

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This is the second post in a series I’m writing on the apologetics of Blaise Pascal to celebrate the release of my first book Redeeming Royalty: Anthro and the King of Lux. If you are interested in Pascal’s apologetic methods and seeing them applied, you may enjoy reading Redeeming Royalty. The main character, Anthro, was directly inspired by Pascal’s Anthropological Argument and the novel was framed and filled with various applications of Pascal’s apologetics, such as this destabilization method. I’ll end with a quick sound bite from the novel that captures just a bit of what’s been discussed:

“The glory of man contrasting the shame, holding my mind captive against a conviction. Beauty clashing against a torrent of oblivion. Majestic speculation screaming against a shroud of eternal worthlessness.” – Anthro 

 

Photo by Shaojie on Unsplash