Wouldn't people who believe in God, due to Pascal's Wager, be risking h**l if God valued intellectual honesty?

Question

I surmise that many people believe in God because they think it is a safe bet. After all, as Pascal's Wager goes, if one is wrong about God's existence, one has nothing to lose when one dies. However, according to this same wager if one doesn't believe in God, and he in fact does exist than one has everything to lose. However, this scenario is predicated on the notion that God doesn't care about intellectual honesty, and would reward people for believing in him because it is a safe bet. How about if God valued intellectual honesty (which being a perfect moral being he should), and thus condemned people who believed in him because they thought it was a safe, instead of TRULY believing in him? So aren't the multitude who follow Pascal's Wager more at risk of eternal torment than atheists? Furthermore, aren’t theists who employ Pascal’s Wager as a way to convince atheists to believe in God, inadvertently adding to the number of those destined for h**l?

Answer 1

Well, you'd be right to a certain extent... if God is real, he would probably base your entrance into heaven on Honestly following him.

However, God would probably place no merit in someone honestly believing he doesn't exist, therefore honestly following his disbelief.  There would probably be no value in a mortal soul just in honestly alone.  Self-honestly would promote your own mental balance, but not some spiritual goal.  Honesty alone, in one's self... does not serve the purpose of the Deity, hence no reason would be given for the Deity to give the Honest person an eternal reward.

So, you're half right.  A theist to use this argument would really be a futile goal, because honest and earnest belief would be the only thing to get you through.

Answer 2

First, let me say that I'm an atheist (but I used to be a Christian). My feeling is that Pascal's Wager is hypocritical. How can somebody "choose" to believe in God "just in case"? Either one does or one doesn't. I'm not going to take the "safe path" and decide that God exists when in my heart I really don't think he does.

And in that tiny remote possibility there is a God, how can the Christians who choose that path honestly think that God wouldn't see through their hypocrisy, noting that they didn't *really* believe in God but only did so to be safe? It makes no sense at all!

And your point about inadvertently condemning others to h**l is also an excellent point. If Christians are pushing people into h**l, then whose side are they working on?

Answer 3

Argh, I'll see your Pascal's Wager and raise you a ....oh wait.

Yep.  Good question.  I feel the same way.

Answer 4

Those who believe in God should have a more legitimate reason for doing so than Pascal's Wager.

"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." (Jer 33:3)

Answer 5

I think Pascal wanted to make us think more honestly about belief itself.  His wager is much deeper than commonly portrayed.

If we truly want to know/experience our Creator, we will seek Him.  We have to assume as true that He exists in order to honestly seek Him.  To "assume as true" is the definition of believe.

To not believe in God means that we reject the idea of seeking Him.  But if God is of infinite worth, why wouldn't everyone at least seek Him?  

The reason we don't seek Him is because we don't want Him in our lives.  We don't want an authority over how we live our lives.  That is why we don't believe in God.  It has nothing to do with evidence.

Answer 6

Or if He respects just plain honesty

But doesn't matter though....but I'll bet we get another "Pascal's wager" question before the night is through anyway...

Answer 7

No.

One mans intellectual honesty is another mans scientific fraud.