Pascal’s refusal to wager
Or more accurately, Pascal’s sermon on unbelief and vice
The use of the so-called “vice imperative” — what is called a “jussive mood” in some Middle Eastern or Semitic languages — is apparently not commonly understood in modern English, or, as the case may be, French, the term “vice imperative” itself having been so totally censored throughout the world that no mention of it is to be found anywhere on the internet. (We refer to a phrase once in use that is now conspicuous by its total absence.)
It is a command in the affirmative to undeniable vice where the negative imperative is disallowed, but the meaning of it must be made clear by context or explanation.
Once the poker chip is laid on the table, it might be turned over, perhaps, but the rules of the game do not permit it to be concealed or retracted.
Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is… If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is.
Pascal makes the Jews very angry no doubt because here he spins the dreidel with the very name of God: I AM THAT I AM, those four letters by which He indicates His existence.
And these philosophers sure do cut with a very sharp knife omitting all mention of Jesus Christ, and His own words, He Himself of whom it is “wagered” so to speak, that He is:
[Matthew 16:26] For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Does Blaise Pascal ask or offer anything by his famous “wager” that Jesus Christ Himself doesn’t?