Peter kreeft believes that blaise pascal is the first postmedieval apologist. The pensees is a collection of philosohical fragments, notes and essays in which pascal explores the contradictions of human nature in pscyhological, social, metaphysical and above all theological terms. Pascals pensees oxford worlds classics blaise pascal. This book is an exposition of blaise pascals pensees. Pascals pensees is widely considered to be a masterpiece. Now, through the whole of his book his only conception of death is a cowardly and effeminate one. Bereschit rabah, bar naconi, are subtle and pleasant discourses, historical and theological.
The first version of the numerous scraps of paper found after his death appeared in print as a book in 1669 and soon thereafter became a classic. Table of contents for pascal s pensees, a digital book in the international school of theologys cyber library which is a digital library for graduate seminary research, personal, and ministry research. Pascal s religious conversion led him into a life of asceticism, and the pensees was in many ways his lifes work. Pascals earliest work was in the natural and applied sciences where he made important contributions to the construction of mechanical calculators, the study of fluids, and clarified the concepts of. However, we need only read a few pages of the book known as the pensees by the great french 17thcentury philosopher blaise pascal 162362 to. Pascals apologetic method is just a delight to read and its such a pitty modern apologetics dont appeal enough to his arguments. Pensees blaise pascal and men of intuition who are only intuitive cannot have the patience to reach to first principles of things speculative and conceptual, which they have never seen in the world and which are. Blaise pascal, the precociously brilliant contemporary of descartes, was a. Pascal wrote in the 17th century as a contemporary of descartes and the modernist movement, and some of his pensees are quite thoughtprovoking and telling of the times. One can excuse his rather free and licentious opinions on some relations of life.
Kreeft does it again in this book about pascals pensees. Few people have had as many influences on as many different fields as true renaissance man blaise pascal. The pensees represented pascal s defense of the christian religion. Pensees which means thoughts is more a series of notes than an actual book. Turabianstyle citation guide prepared by the integrated learning resource center for use in the school of religion, liberty university citations in this guide follow the provisions of kate l.
This book is at times difficult to read, since he died before he finished it thus leaving many sections only outlined in note form. Pensees and other writings by blaise pascal pensees, table of liasse titles, order, vanity, wretchedness, boredom, causes and effects, greatness, contradictions. Inevitably i found the former sections to be far more compelling. Pascal, blaisespensees christian kindle book library. Pascal s classic thoughts on numerous topics related to christianity. But slogging through those portions is worthwhile when you get to the good, thoughtprovoking parts. We need pascalthe precise logician as well as the philosopher and religious thinkermore than ever. An eminent french historian has said that the book on frequent communion fell upon the jesuits like a thunderbolt. In his pensees 165758, pascal posed the following argument to show that belief in the christian religion is rational. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father. Pascals pensees is widely considered to be a masterpiece, and a landmark in french prose. Apr 27, 2006 free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. A pioneer in mathematics and physics before the age of 30, pascals brilliance was appreciated in other fields before he wrote about religion. David wetsel is an andrew mellon fellow in the department of french and italian at the.
A pioneer in mathematics and physics before the age of 30, pascal s brilliance was appreciated in other fields before he wrote about religion. Dec 12, 2016 pascals theological writings are pointed both towards jesuit casuistry and the rising skepticism of the humanist of his day. The project gutenberg ebook of pascals pensees, by blaise pascal this ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. Within his book, pensees, pascal argues and shares his thoughts about god, science, and philosophy. The working preacher team believes that god uses good biblical preaching to change lives. Pascals religious conversion led him into a life of asceticism, and the. Addressed to modern skeptics and unbelievers, as well as to modern christians for apologetics and selfexamination, pascal and kreeft combine to provide a powerful witness. The great and lasting work of blaise pascal is his pensees, or meditations. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. Blaise pascals pensees is a book like many others from the western. Will durant, in his 11volume, comprehensive the story of civilization series, hailed it as the most eloquent book in french prose. The concept of pascal s wager stems from a portion of this work.
The greatness of this book is that it contains pascals best notes from the pensees and good expositioncommentary by kreeft. The project gutenberg ebook of pascals pensees, by blaise pascal. And while there are several strains of pascal s thought that i considerably dissent from, it can hardly be denied that in many ways, pascal s insights into human character as it relates. If we submit everything to reason our religion will be left with nothing mysterious or supernatural blaise pascal, the precociously brilliant contemporary of. The pensees is a collection of philosophical fragments, notes and essays in which pascal explores the contradictions of human nature in psychological, social, metaphysical and, above all, theological terms. This is peter kreefts abridged commentary on blaise pascals pensees. This is from page 75 of blaise pascals pensees new york. No writer in history, claims kreeft, is a more effective christian apologist. I was originally looking for a good english translation of pascals pensees to read when i came across this book. It would recognize how useless it had been to the body in spite of the life. The project gutenberg ebook of pascals pensees, by blaise. The pensees thoughts is a collection of fragments on theology and philosophy written by 17thcentury philosopher and mathematician blaise pascal. This is a great book for those of you who like apologetics, philosophy, epistemology, and theology. There is a great difference between a book which an individual writes, and publishes to a nation, and a book which itself creates a nation.
It was written by blaise pascal, a frenchman, in the 1600s, and was published a short time after his death in 1662. In this book, kreeft gives a short commentary on the pensees of blaise pascal d. The thoughts and ideas for his book were collected and complied, posthumously, and then published as the pensees. And while there are several strains of pascals thought that i considerably dissent from, it can hardly be denied that in many ways, pascals insights into human character as it relates. Pascals religious conversion led him into a life of asceticism, and the pensees was in many ways his lifes work. Section 7 of pascals pensees, a digital book in the international school of. This book, representing pascal s pensees, or thoughts, contains many provocative views that have managed to arouse critics from many different perspectives. Pascal managed to organize and classify some notes before he died, but others remain unsorted, and the book he intended was never written. Originally intending to publish a book defending christianity, pascal died before. It was to have been a sustained and coherent examination and defense of the christian faith. It must give us an explanation of our opposition to god and to our own good. The facts of pascals life, so far as they are necessary for this brief introduction to the pensees, are as follows. Because the pensees were not put in order by pascal himself, various editors and scholars of his thought have organized these notes in different ways, so it isnt really possible to analyze the. Many of pascals arguments involve the unity of both religion and science.
The book seemed to me to be too fragmented and disjointed to make a sustained argument. Despite pascals lack of confidence in proofs and his acknowledgement that reason is insufficient for producing faith given that faith is a gift from god, beyond reason, he still maintained as was mentioned above that the christian must still provide reasons until god moves in the unbelievers heart. When looking at pascals arguments that emerge in pensees. It can only be filled by god, made known through jesus. In the one, the principles are palpable, but removed from ordinary use. This book, representing pascals pensees, or thoughts, contains many provocative views that have managed to arouse critics from many different perspectives. Buy a cheap copy of christianity for modern pagans. The thoughts and ideas for his book were collected and complied, posthumously, and then published as the pensaes. The fragments have been ordered in different ways throughout history, and while some of them are well. Working preacher is a ministry brought to you by luther seminary. Penseesis a group of thoughts pensees in french that pascal intending to develop into a defense of the faith. Pensees and other writings pensees, table of liasse titles. Blaise pascal, the precociously brilliant contemporary of descartes, was a gifted mathematician and physicist, but it is his unfinished apologia for the christian religion upon which his reputation now rests. We cannot doubt that the book is as old as the people.
This document has been generated from xsl extensible stylesheet language source with renderx xep formatter, version 3. Way back in february of 2006, i shared the quote that is commonly assumed to come from pascal, there is a godshaped vacuum in the heart of every person, and it can never be filled by any created thing. This book is an exposition of blaise pascal s pensees. The plan of what we call the pensees formed itself about 1660. At once a mathematician, philosopher, theologian, physicist, and engineer, pascals discoveries, experiments, and theories helped usher in a modern world of scientific thought and methodology. The pensaes are the thoughts of mathematician, physicist, and religious thinker blaise pascal. Overview the pensees is a collection of hundreds of notes made by pascal, many of them intended for a book which would be a rational defense of christianity. It is a collection of preliminary notes for a proposed book titled apology for the christian religion. Pascals religious conversion led him into a life of asceticism, and. Pascal s apologetic method is just a delight to read and its such a pitty modern apologetics dont appeal enough to his arguments. Sep 08, 2017 in large part due to peter kreefts book christianity for modern pagans, there is a growing recognition that blaise pascal fits that mold in the realm of christian apologetics. The pensees is simply the compelling thoughts of mathematician, physicist, and religious thinker blaise pascal.
Blaise pascal pascals pensees is widely considered to be a masterpiece, and a landmark in french prose. The pensees was intended as a defense of christianity, but pascal died before the book. Please use the follow button to get notification about the latest chapter next time when you visit. Updated edition of the famous krailsheimer translation, the first to follow the order of notes as pascal left them. While containing jansenist musings, this orthodox work contains valuable material for the budding apologist. Blaise pascal was a french mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and christian philosopher in the early 1600s. Ive read pensees before, so kreefts book was nothing earth shattering for me. Yet his pensees thoughts, published eight years after his death, continues to make an impact because of its depth and insight. The difference between the mathematical and the intuitive mind. Pascal did not publish any philosophical works during his relatively brief lifetime. Previous section next section table of contents section vii. Section 7 of pascals pensees, a digital book in the international school of theologys cyber library which is a digital library for graduate seminary research, personal, and ministry research. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. Pascal, a 17 th century frenchman, was a mathematician, scientist, and christian philosopher who was particularly interested in apologetics and helping people think about their need for god.
This book is a great distillation and explanation on pascal s pensees and all their implications for the modern world. In large part due to peter kreefts book christianity for modern pagans, there is a growing recognition that blaise pascal fits that mold in the realm of christian apologetics. The facts of pascal s life, so far as they are necessary for this brief introduction to the pensees, are as follows. Pascal was an avid reader of montaigne, and seems to have taken that french sages skepticism to heart. Pensees by blaise pascal in the span of a short life of 39 years 16231662, the frenchborn blaise pascal made his mark as scientist, inventor, philosopher, and theologian. The life and writings of blaise pascal wikisource, the. If the christian god does not exist, the agnostic loses little by believing in him and gains correspondingly little by not believing.
Modern pagans, which is essentially a selection of pensees with commentary. If the reverend fathers recovered from the hock, they certainly showed that they had been some. It is easy to recognize two great divisions in the book. The completed book was to have been a carefully constructed defence of christianity, a true apology and a kind of grammar of assent, setting forth the reasons which will convince the intellect. This book is a great distillation and explanation on pascals pensees and all their implications for the modern world. Pascal was an ardent believer in the christian religion. Pascal alternates between two fundamental moods in the text. Pascals pensees edited, outlined, and explained at. Mankind emerges from pascals analysis as a wretched and desolate creature within an impersonal universe, pensees. I downloaded a copy of pensees for the kindle and intended to read a chapter of this book and then the corresponding thoughts, but kreefts book is so interesting i ended up reading it. In this singular book on this singular genius, distinguished scholar mary ann caws explores the. Whence it is very astonishing that it has been constantly preserved during many centuries by a people, rebellious and impatient as this one was. Originally intending to publish a book defending christianity, pascal died before he could complete it. They would do better to say, our book, our commentary, our history, etc.
The pensees or thoughts is a collection of writings by blaise pascal, one of the great philosophers and mathematicians of the seventeenth century. Youre read light novel pascals pensees part 3 online at. This unfinished apology for christianity was meant to confound the followers of descartes by emphasizing the inadequacy of reason. Kreefts explanations are wonderfully useful as well. It is the quality of pascals writinghis abrupt, abbreviated, aphoristic, gnomic utteranceso mysterious and yet so authoritativethat fascinates caws, and her book is eloquent testimony to pascals continuing relevance today. The pensees was intended as a defense of christianity, but pascal died before the book could be fully edited and published. In the first book of its kind, joseph fruscione examines the. I was originally looking for a good english translation of pascal s pensees to read when i came across this book. Pascal was the first thinker to really bring apologetics down to the nittygritty practical level by speaking on the human.
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