14 of 15 in Section X TYPOLOGY355 of 448 in work
God's Human Intention
Blaise Pascal
Pensees

The author explains that when the literal word of God seems false or human-like, it must be understood spiritually as an expression of divine intention rather than a literal description of God's physical nature.

...e first passages, excluding as they do reality, indicate that all this is only typical. All these passages together cannot be applied to reality; all can be said to be typical; therefore they are not spoken of reality, but of the type. Agnus occisus est ab origine mundi.[262] A sacrificing judge. 685 Contradictions.--The sceptre till the Messiah--without king or prince. The eternal law--changed. The eternal covenant--a new covenant. Good laws--bad precepts. Ezekiel. 686 Types.--
When the word of God, which is really true, is false literally, it is true spiritually. Sede a dextris meis: this is false literally, therefore it is true spiritually. In these expressions, God is spoken of after the manner of men; and this means nothing else but that the intention which men have in giving a seat at their right hand, God will have also. It is then an indication of the intention of God, not of His manner of carrying it out. Thus when it is said, "God has received the odour of your incense, and will in recompense give you a rich land," that is equivalent to saying that the same intention which a man would have, who, pleased…
So iratus est, a "jealous God,"[264] etc. For, the things of God being inexpressible, they cannot be spoken of otherwise, and the Church makes use of them even to-day: Quia confortavil seras,[265] etc. It is not allowable to attribute to Scripture the meaning which is not revealed to us that it has. Thus, to say that the closed mem[266] of Isaiah signifies six hundred, has not been revealed. It might be said that the final tsade and he deficientes may signify mysteries. But it is not...
Continue reading →
6
15 of 15 in Section X TYPOLOGY356 of 448 in work
The Lustful Enemy
Blaise Pascal
Pensees

Pascal contrasts those who seek fulfillment in sensual lust with those who seek God, offering the 'happy news' of a Redeemer to those troubled by their spiritual distance from the divine.

...the secret, who hears them both talk in this manner, will pass upon them the same judgment. But if afterwards, in the rest of their conversation one says angelic things, and the other always dull commonplaces, he will judge that the one spoke in mysteries, and not the other; the one having sufficiently shown that he is incapable of such foolishness, and capable of being mysterious; and the other that he is incapable of mystery, and capable of foolishness. The Old Testament is a cipher. 691
There are some that see clearly that man has no other enemy than lust, which turns him from God, and not God; and that he has no other good than God, and not a rich land. Let those who believe that the good of man is in the flesh, and evil in what turns him away from sensual pleasures, [satiate] themselves with them, and [die] in them. But let those who seek God with all their heart, who are only troubled at not seeing Him, who desire only to possess Him, and have as enemies only those who turn them away from Him, who are grieved at seeing themselves surrounded and overwhelmed with such enemies, take comfort. I proclaim to them happy…
I shall show Him to them. I shall show that there is a God for them. I shall not show Him to others. I shall make them see that a Messiah has been promised, who should deliver them from their enemies, and that One has come to free them from their iniquities, but not from their enemies. When David foretold that the Messiah would deliver His people from their enemies, one can believe that in the flesh these would be the Egyptians; and then I cannot show that the prophecy was fulfilled. But one c...
Continue reading →
2
1 of 21 in Section XI THE PROPHECIES357 of 448 in work
Now entering Section XI THE PROPHECIES
Lost in the Universe
Blaise Pascal
Pensees

Pascal describes the existential terror of man's condition—lost in a silent universe without knowledge of his origin or purpose—and his personal quest to find signs of God amidst this wretchedness.

...that of_] Moses when speaking of enemies? Daniel (ix) prays for the deliverance of the people from the captivity of their enemies. But he was thinking of sins, and, to show this, he says that Gabriel came to tell him that his prayer was heard, and that there were only seventy weeks to wait, after which the people would be freed from iniquity, sin would have an end, and the Redeemer, the Holy of Holies, would bring eternal justice, not legal, but eternal. SECTION XI THE PROPHECIES 692
When I see the blindness and the wretchedness of man, when I regard the whole silent universe, and man without light, left to himself, and, as it were, lost in this corner of the universe, without knowing who has put him there, what he has come to do, what will become of him at death, and incapable of all knowledge, I become terrified, like a man who should be carried in his sleep to a dreadful desert island, and should awake without knowing where he is, and without means of escape. And thereupon I wonder how people in a condition so wretched do not fall into despair. I see other persons around me of a like nature. I ask them if they are…
I see many contradictory religions, and consequently all false save one. Each wants to be believed on its own authority, and threatens unbelievers. I do not therefore believe them. Every one can say this; every one can call himself a prophet. But I see that Christian religion wherein prophecies are fulfilled; and that is what every one cannot do. 693 And what crowns all this is prediction, so that it should not be said that it is chance which has done it. Whosoever, having only a week to l...
Continue reading →
2
2 of 21 in Section XI THE PROPHECIES358 of 448 in work
Religious Authority's Contradiction
Blaise Pascal
Pensees

Pascal distinguishes Christianity from other religions by pointing to the fulfillment of prophecy as a unique, objective proof of its divine authority that others cannot replicate.

...I see other persons around me of a like nature. I ask them if they are better informed than I am. They tell me that they are not. And thereupon these wretched and lost beings, having looked around them, and seen some pleasing objects, have given and attached themselves to them. For my own part, I have not been able to attach myself to them, and, considering how strongly it appears that there is something else than what I see, I have examined whether this God has not left some sign of Himself.
I see many contradictory religions, and consequently all false save one. Each wants to be believed on its own authority, and threatens unbelievers. I do not therefore believe them. Every one can say this; every one can call himself a prophet. But I see that Christian religion wherein prophecies are fulfilled; and that is what every one cannot do.
693 And what crowns all this is prediction, so that it should not be said that it is chance which has done it. Whosoever, having only a week to live, will not find out that it is expedient to believe that all this is not a stroke of chance ... Now, if the passions had no hold on us, a week and a hundred years would amount to the same thing. 694 Prophecies.--Great Pan is dead.[267] 695 Susceperunt verbum cum omni aviditate, scrutantes Scripturas, si ita se haberent.[268] 696 _P...
5
3 of 21 in Section XI THE PROPHECIES359 of 448 in work
Prophecy's Global Proof
Blaise Pascal
Pensees

The author asserts that the global distribution of the Jewish people and their prophecies served as a necessary, miraculous preparation for the universal recognition of Jesus Christ.

...there were no more prophets. 702 While the prophets were for maintaining the law, the people were indifferent. But since there have been no more prophets, zeal has succeeded them. 703 The devil troubled the zeal of the Jews before Jesus Christ, because he would have been their salvation, but not since. The Jewish people scorned by the Gentiles; the Christian people persecuted. 704 Proof.--Prophecies with their fulfilment; what has preceded and what has followed Jesus Christ. 705
The prophecies are the strongest proof of Jesus Christ. It is for them also that God has made most provision; for the event which has fulfilled them is a miracle existing since the birth of the Church to the end. So God has raised up prophets during sixteen hundred years, and, during four hundred years afterwards, He has scattered all these prophecies among all the Jews, who carried them into all parts of the world. Such was the preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ, and, as His Gospel was to be believed by all the world, it was not only necessary that there should be prophecies to make it believed, but that these prophecies should exist…
706 But it was not enough that the prophecies should exist. It was necessary that they should be distributed throughout all places, and preserved throughout all times. And in order that this agreement might not be taken for an effect of chance, it was necessary that this should be foretold. It is far more glorious for the Messiah that the Jews should be the spectators, and even the instruments of His glory, besides that God had reserved them. 707 Prophecies.--The time foretold by the s...
Continue reading →
3