Pascal’s Pronomian Play
Greetings to you, in the matchless name of Messiah Yeshua, who has redeemed us from the Condemnation of the Torah, overcome death, and granted access to the Tree of Life.
Pascal’s Wager
You may have heard of Blaise Pascal. He was a genius, much smarter than me. He developed mathematical theories and wrote some philosophy and theology. His writings in Le Pensees should be required reading.
Today, I wanted to talk about his famous wager and using it to make decisions about theology, in the face of uncertainty.
Pascal’s Wager goes something like this:
If one wagers that God exists and is wrong, he loses nothing.
If one wagers that God does not exist and is wrong, he loses everything.
If one wagers that God exists and is right, he gains all.
The point is this: in the face of uncertainty, it is better to wager that God exists because, whether one wins or loses the wager, there is no eternal loss. Even if one is wrong and loses the wager, that person breaks even and even has the benefit of living a moral life.
But what if we apply this same logic to the possible confusion about the Torah and the “difficult to understand” words that Paul wrote?
What I want to show, is why it is more prudent to live according to the Torah than to live as though it has been abolished.
Although I fully believe that the Scriptures point exclusively toward Torah continuity, I know that there are some passages which seem to point toward discontinuity and some of them are admittedly “difficult to understand” (2 Pet. 3:16; Mt. 13:13; Lk. 8:10; Heb. 5:11).
Given this scriptural “uncertainty” and the proliferation of teachers who might proclaim the discontinuity of the Torah, traditions counter to the Torah, or Messiah (Mt. 5:19; 7:15; 23:15), I wanted to show a simple wager that might help tip the scales in favor of keeping the Commandments.
I’d like to propose Pascal’s Pronomian Play
1) If one wagers that God’s Law is altered or abolished and IS WRONG, then at best that person will be least in the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt. 5:17-19), assuming they were believers in Jesus, but this person could very well be guilty of committing apostasy (Acts 21:21, 2 Thess. 2:3-4), and at worst is in jeopardy of losing all (Mt. 7:23; 1 Jn. 2:4).
2) If one wagers that God’s Law is fully applicable to one’s life and IS WRONG, then that person actually loses nothing, assuming they have faith in Jesus, for they will still be saved and will have lived a life that was directed by the very words of God. Nowhere in God’s word is one punished for following the commandments.
3) If one wagers that God’s Law is fully applicable and IS RIGHT, assuming they had faith in Jesus Christ, then that person will have gained immeasurable reward, through the approval and satisfaction of Christ, having been a servant who fully obeyed the master. (Mt. 5:19; Mt. 16:27; Lk. 19:17; Rom. 2:6; 1 Cor. 3:11-15; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 22:12, AMONG MANY MORE).
The prudent man, and follower of Jesus Christ, therefore, would wager on the continuity of the Law. For, even if one were wrong, there would be no loss.
Adonai bless you and keep you.
Adonai make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
Adonai lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.
-Scott McKenzie