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This is from here.

"Another curious argument of Pascal's is that which is known as the argument of the wager. God exists or He does not exist, and we must of necessity lay odds for or against Him.

•If I wager for and God is -- infinite gain;
•If I wager for and God is not -- no loss.
•If I wager against and God is -- infinite loss;
•If I wager against and God is not -- neither loss nor gain.
In the second case there is an hypothesis wherein I am exposed to the loss of everything. Wisdom, therefore, counsels me to make the wager which insures my winning all or, at worst losing nothing. "

I've been lucky to be raised Catholic and to have faith in God. I have stumbled, sure, but I have always had Him at my side when I needed Him. I've never thought of it in this way, and it really is good logic for those who aren't so certain. If I wasn't sure, I would wager in defense of God's existence, because I can win everything, and at worst lose nothing, instead of risking losing everything, or losing nothing but also having no opportunity of gain. mrgreen

I get what you're trying to say. It is kind of selfish, that is true. At first, I just saw the reasoning that seems to say, "Believe, just in case God is real". I can recognize why you dislike it. It is ridiculous just to believe, so you can have all your bases covered.

But the reason I like the thinking is because it seems so... optimistic. It seems to say, hey, there's really no reason that you shouldn't put everything toward God. There's no logic in you not devoting yourself to Him. It's not going to hurt anything if you decide to look for God, and give Him a try. It's like a proof in math, it gets rid of all the other options.

I got the link from an athiest-turned-Catholic, and it seems to fit that bill. If you were someone who didn't believe in God, you would only take a chance on Him because it wouldn't hurt you to try, you wouldn't be losing anything. Once you discovered God's love, you would have a different reason for setting store by Him. So I definitely see where you're coming from, but the somewhat selfish desire for people to save themselves is what leads them to God, for salvation, and leads them to a deeper relationship with Him.

*Edit*

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