The Thoughts of Blaise Pascal

Left unfinished at Pascal’s death, these fragments were meant to form a great defense of the Christian faith, and even in their broken state they rank among the most searching religious writing ever produced. Pascal turns his mathematician’s mind on the human condition, describing our restlessness, our dread of silence and death, and the famous wager that reason alone cannot settle whether God exists. By turns severe and tender, skeptical and devout, the notes range from single piercing sentences to sustained arguments. Their honesty about doubt has kept them alive for readers of every belief and none. First gathered and published in 1670. Free to download as a PDF or EPUB.