Pascal's Fire
"The heart has its reasons which reason cannot tell."
- Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
Under the previous photograph I gave you a logical reason put forward by Pascal for believing in God. But this is distinctly NOT why Pascal became a follower of Christ. That came about through a deeply mystical experience one night before his fireplace. We know the exact time because Pascal recorded it all on a piece of paper that he tucked into his coat for the rest of his life.
Pascal's experience started on the night of November 23, 1654. It lasted two hours, beginning at 10:30 and ending at 12:30 the next morning.
"The year of grace 1654,
Monday, 23 November, feast of St. Clement, pope and martyr, and others in the martyrology.
Vigil of St. Chrysogonus, martyr, and others.
From about half past ten at night until about half past midnight,
FIRE.
GOD of Abraham, GOD of Isaac, GOD of Jacob
not of the philosophers and of the learned.
Certitude. Certitude. Feeling. Joy. Peace.
GOD of Jesus Christ.
My God and your God.
Your GOD will be my God.
Forgetfulness of the world and of everything, except GOD.
He is only found by the ways taught in the Gospel.
Grandeur of the human soul.
Righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you.
Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy.
I have departed from him:
They have forsaken me, the fount of living water.
My God, will you leave me?
Let me not be separated from him forever.
This is eternal life, that they know you, the one true God, and the one that you sent, Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ.
I left him; I fled him, renounced, crucified.
Let me never be separated from him.
He is only kept securely by the ways taught in the Gospel:
Renunciation, total and sweet.
Complete submission to Jesus Christ and to my director.
Eternally in joy for a day’s exercise on the earth.
May I not forget your words. Amen."
Blaise Pascal became a follower of Jansenism, a stream of Catholicism that was heavily persecuted by the Jesuits (the arbiters of "true doctrine" in the Catholic Church of the time). This so-called heretical faith had a strong belief that one does not decide to follow Christ, but that God does the choosing. This doctrine of predestination was a central plank in Calvinistic Protestantism. The primacy of God's Grace over human reason is absolutely central to this faith.
As a result, this experience became a "confirmation" for Pascal that he really had been chosen by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the God of Jesus Christ, to be one of his humble servants.
For the remaining years of his life Pascal devoted himself to his Pensées (Thoughts), the clearest expression of his faith and one of the greatest theological confessions in history.
Pascal attacked the very idea that reason or human effort could lead to a relationship with God. No, God chooses us, and we (under the influence of the Holy Spirit) are his vessels for service and good works.
Pascal's Fire
"The heart has its reasons which reason cannot tell."
- Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
Under the previous photograph I gave you a logical reason put forward by Pascal for believing in God. But this is distinctly NOT why Pascal became a follower of Christ. That came about through a deeply mystical experience one night before his fireplace. We know the exact time because Pascal recorded it all on a piece of paper that he tucked into his coat for the rest of his life.
Pascal's experience started on the night of November 23, 1654. It lasted two hours, beginning at 10:30 and ending at 12:30 the next morning.
"The year of grace 1654,
Monday, 23 November, feast of St. Clement, pope and martyr, and others in the martyrology.
Vigil of St. Chrysogonus, martyr, and others.
From about half past ten at night until about half past midnight,
FIRE.
GOD of Abraham, GOD of Isaac, GOD of Jacob
not of the philosophers and of the learned.
Certitude. Certitude. Feeling. Joy. Peace.
GOD of Jesus Christ.
My God and your God.
Your GOD will be my God.
Forgetfulness of the world and of everything, except GOD.
He is only found by the ways taught in the Gospel.
Grandeur of the human soul.
Righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you.
Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy.
I have departed from him:
They have forsaken me, the fount of living water.
My God, will you leave me?
Let me not be separated from him forever.
This is eternal life, that they know you, the one true God, and the one that you sent, Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ.
I left him; I fled him, renounced, crucified.
Let me never be separated from him.
He is only kept securely by the ways taught in the Gospel:
Renunciation, total and sweet.
Complete submission to Jesus Christ and to my director.
Eternally in joy for a day’s exercise on the earth.
May I not forget your words. Amen."
Blaise Pascal became a follower of Jansenism, a stream of Catholicism that was heavily persecuted by the Jesuits (the arbiters of "true doctrine" in the Catholic Church of the time). This so-called heretical faith had a strong belief that one does not decide to follow Christ, but that God does the choosing. This doctrine of predestination was a central plank in Calvinistic Protestantism. The primacy of God's Grace over human reason is absolutely central to this faith.
As a result, this experience became a "confirmation" for Pascal that he really had been chosen by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the God of Jesus Christ, to be one of his humble servants.
For the remaining years of his life Pascal devoted himself to his Pensées (Thoughts), the clearest expression of his faith and one of the greatest theological confessions in history.
Pascal attacked the very idea that reason or human effort could lead to a relationship with God. No, God chooses us, and we (under the influence of the Holy Spirit) are his vessels for service and good works.