Video from Apologetics315
Pascal's Pensées
"In this episode, Brian Auten and Chad Gross discuss Blaise Pascal’s Pensées. They discuss the topics of apologetic methodology, Pascal’s “Night of Fire,” Pascal’s reflections on distraction, the state of man, the hiddenness of God, the need for humility in approaching God, and Pascal’s appeal to the seeker. Further resources: The Pensées, FREE for Kindle: https://a315.co/FreePensees" from video introduction.
Book Review: Pascal's Pensees:
In the span of a short life of 39 years (1623-1662), the French-born Blaise Pascal made his mark as scientist, inventor, philosopher, and theologian. Yet his Pensées (thoughts), published eight years after his death, continues to make an impact because of its depth and insight. Pensées is really just a compilation of Pascal’s notes, which he intended to be made into a defense of Christianity. However, because of Pascal’s poor health he died before he was able to complete his work.
The Pensées we have today are arranged thematically. These themes range from the wretchedness and greatness of man to the use of reason and the proofs for God. Often Pascal is making observations on human nature, always returning to the theme of the lowly state of man – the paradox of man’s greatness and man’s depravity. At times he paints a dramatic picture of the state of man: “Imagine a number of men in chains, all under sentence of death, some of whom are each day butchered in the sight of the others; those remaining see their own condition in that of their fellows, and looking at each other with grief and despair await their turn. This is an image of the human condition.” (434/199) “We run heedlessly into the abyss after putting something in front of us to stop us seeing it.” (166/183).." from the article: Book Review: Pensees by Blaise Pascal
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