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Daily Readings

Daily Readings With Blaise Pascal (Daily Readings Series) by Blaise Pascal

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When he died in 1662, Blaise Pascal was famous as a mathematician and scientist. As a religious writer he applied his logical scientific mind to theological issues. These excerpts from Pascal's religious writings will give the reader some insight into the mind and heart of the 17th century genuis. The Daily Reading Series presents selections from the spiritual classics in a form suitable for daily reading and meditation. These pocket size books are 4 1/4" x 7" and contain 96 pages.

Paperback

First published October 1, 1995

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About the author

Blaise Pascal

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Early work of Blaise Pascal of France included the invention of the adding machine and syringe and the co-development with Pierre de Fermat of the mathematical theory of probability; later, he, a Jansenist, wrote on philosophy and theology, notably as collected in the posthumous Pensées (1670).

This contemporary of René Descartes attained ten years of age in 1633, when people forced Galileo Galilei to recant his belief that Earth circled the Sun. He lived in Paris at the same time, when Thomas Hobbes in 1640 published his famous Leviathan (1651). Together, Pascal created the calculus.

A near-fatal carriage accident in November 1654 persuaded him to turn his intellect finally toward religion. The story goes that on the proverbial dark and stormy night, while Pascal rode in a carriage across a bridge in a suburb of Paris, a fright caused the horses to bolt, sending them over the edge. The carriage, bearing Pascal, survived. Pascal took the incident as a sign and devoted. At this time, he began a series, called the Provincial Letters , against the Jesuits in 1657.

Pascal perhaps most famously wagered not as clearly in his language as this summary: "If Jesus does not exist, the non Christian loses little by believing in him and gains little by not believing. If Jesus does exist, the non Christian gains eternal life by believing and loses an infinite good by not believing.”

Sick throughout life, Pascal died in Paris from a combination of tuberculosis and stomach cancer at 39 years of age. At the last, he confessed Catholicism.

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