Pascal’s Wager Made Easy (Part 1)

I’ve been doing an in-depth series of YouTube videos on Dr. Michael Rota’s updated version of Pascal’s Wager. You can find the playlist here. But how can the Wager be summarized in a way that is easy to remember in conversation? That’s what I aim to answer in this post (part 1). In part 2, I plan to offer concise responses to common objections.

In conversation, I’d pitch the Wager in two steps. First, offer an analogous Wager. Second, connect it to “the Wager.”

Step 1: A Wager

A coin is being flipped, and you have to call heads or tails. You can’t pass. If you call heads and it lands heads, you win $100. If you call heads and it lands tails, you lose $1. If you call tails and it lands heads, you lose $100. If you call tails and it lands tails, you win $1. What would you call?

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I bet you’d call heads. Why? Because if you call heads there is very much to gain and relatively little to lose. But if you call tails, there is very much to lose and relatively little to gain.

Step 2: “The Wager”

Calling heads is like committing to a deeply Christian life. How?

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Well much like the coin, there are two alternatives. Either Christianity is true or not. And much like calling heads or tails, you have two options to choose from. Either live as if Christianity is true or not. Commitment or non-commitment. There is no pass.

Much like the +$100, if you commit and Christianity is true, then you’ve maximized your chance at eternal life and you’re more likely to help people find eternal life. By eternal life I mean experiencing the deepest fulfillment of love and satisfaction possible, through relationship with the most perfect being possible, in the most breathtakingly beautiful and culturally diverse place possible, with every day containing a new adventure and new/deeper friendships, without end.

Much like the -$1, if you commit and Christianity is not true, then you’ve lost certain temporary pleasures, and perhaps sacrificed some relationships. But you’ve still gained a happier more satisfying and longer life, while increasing the chance of becoming more charitable and sacrificial with your money and time.

Much like the -$100, if you don’t commit and Christianity is true, then you’ve decreased your chance at eternal life, making it more likely you’ll be cut off from life in God. You’ll also be less likely to help others find eternal life.

Much like +$1, if you don’t commit and Christianity is not true, then you’ve gained certain temporary pleasures and relationships. But these pale in comparison to the pleasures and relationships you’d experience with God. You’d also lower your chance at a happier more satisfying and longer life, and lower the chance you will volunteer, and give time and money sacrificially.

So what would you do? Commit or not? You should commit for the same reason you’d call heads. It’s just as rational, because the reason is the same. By committing, there is very much to gain and relatively little to lose. By not committing there is very much to lose and relatively little to gain. You must wager your life. So what will you call?