Questions of the Afterlife (Pensee 194) - Pascal

Let them at least learn what is the religion they attack, before attacking it.  If this religion boasted of having a clear view of God, and of possessing it open and unveiled, it would be attacking it to say that we see nothing in the world which shows it with this clearness. 

This is how Pascal opens #194, the heart of his 'wager'.  He says that opponents of religion haven't taken the time to understand what they're attacking.  He continues:

...that God has set up in the Church visible signs to make Himself known to those who should seek Him sincerely, and that He has nevertheless so disguised them that He will only be perceived by those who seek Him with all their heart; what advantages can they obtain, when, in the negligence with which they make profession of being in search of the truth, they cry out that nothing reveals it to them; and since that darkness in which they are, and with which they upbraid the Church, establishes only one of the things which she affirms, without touching the other, and, very far from destroying, proves her doctrine?

Pascal says that only by giving your full heart to God, can you perceive Him.  You have to have faith before you will be rewarded.  On the other hand, if you come to God, filled with doubt and seeking to disprove Him, you'll never find anything.  And this isn't something trivial.

The immortality of the soul is a matter which is of so great consequence to us, and which touches us so profoundly, that we must have lost all feeling to be indifferent as to knowing what it is.  

The big questions of the soul (and God and the afterlife), are of prime importance. 

Thus our first interest and our first duty is to enlighten ourselves on this subject, whereon depends all our conduct. Therefore among those who do not believe, I make a vast difference between those who strive with all their power to inform themselves, and those who live without troubling or thinking about it.

 And those who don't pay it much mind?

And if besides this he is easy and content, professes to be so, and indeed boasts of it; if it is this state itself which is the subject of his joy and vanity, I have no words to describe so silly a creature.

It's striking how angry Pascal is towards those who don't invest serious thought in finding out if they have a soul and if that soul will enjoy an afterlife.  He is not a tame philosopher.  He talks about the predicament we all find ourselves in as we try to figure out why we're here and what's going on.

As I know not whence I come, so I know not wither I go. I know only that, in leaving this world, I fall for ever either into annihilation or into the hands of an angry God, without knowing to which of these two states I shall be for ever assigned.

This is something of a teaser for his famous wager.  I'll come back to that.  Frankly, I felt personally chastised after reading this.  I haven't done enough thinking on this subject, or at least not enough in recent years.  But Pascal has my wheels turning a bit...

Pensees - Pascal

I've been trying to figure out how to write about Pascal's 'Pensees' (or Thoughts).  Earlier in the year I took a quick peek and it looked like several one or two line affirmations, so I thought of them as being like proverbs.  Once I actually got to the book I found out that many of them were more in depth, some several pages in length.  (I'm not complaining about that.  The longer ones were the richest in quality.)  The best comparison for Pascal?  He was something of a proto-blogger.
Seriously.  It's easy to think of his various thoughts as stand alone blog posts.  Some are short and pithy, while others are more in depth.  There are extended themes and arguments.  He clearly thought very hard about certain subjects for long stretches of time.
I could comment on each one, but there are nearly 80 of them in the suggested list* for the Great Books.  That would mean more blog posts than I can reasonably promise.  I could try and condense them by subject, but even that will mean a dozen or so to tackle and that probably won't happen either.
I'm afraid the best I can do is to concentrate on some of the most meaningful ones.  That's unfortunate because there are plenty of nuggets of gold in the rest.  He really was a remarkable writer.

*Here is that suggested list: 72, 82-83, 100, 128, 131, 139, 142-143, 171, 194-195, 219, 229, 233-234, 242, 277, 282, 289, 298, 303, 320, 323, 325, 330-331, 374, 385, 392, 395-397, 409, 412-413, 416, 418, 425, 430, 434-435, 463, 491, 525-531, 538, 543, 547, 553, 556, 564, 571, 586, 598, 607-610, 613, 619-620, 631, 640, 644, 673, 675, 684, 692-693, 737, 760, 768, 792-793.

Longfellow - Poetry

The poetry book brings me next to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, with a poem called 'Paul Revere's Ride'.  The entire poem (found here) is too long for me to type out.  Here is the first couple of stanzas:

Listen my children and you shal hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is no alive
Who remembers that famous day and year:

He said to his friend, "if the British march
By land or sea from the town tonight,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,-
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm."

This is very much a story poem, with very little poetic imagery.  It tells its story well and that is no small thing.  But it doesn't really sing like some of the poems we've come across.  It does have its famous phrase, 'One of by land and two if by sea'.  I'll give it that.  But it's not a favorite of mine.

Biography of Pascal

Blaise Pascal was born in June of 1623, in the Auvergne region of France.  His mother died when he was three.  His father was a judge and a tax collector.  When Pascal was five, the family moved to Paris.  His father decided to educate all of his children, especially Blaise, because he was a child prodigy.  He especially excelled at science and mathematics. 
Pascal was only 16 when he did his first serious work on mathematics, a proof on hexagons and circles.  There was suspicion that his father wrote the work but he everyone that his son Blaise was the author.  This put his name on the map.
When he was not quite 19, he invented a mechanical calculator to help his father with tax collection.  The calculator was expensive to produce and never became more than a novelty item.  Later he did some work on hydraulics and invented the syringe.  He also did some important work on the effects of elevation on barometers.
In 1646, Pascal was thrown in contact with some Jansenist believers.  Jansenists are members of a then small Catholic splinter group.  He spent most of a year contemplating and writing about theology but fell away.  In November of 1654, he had what he described as an intense religious experience.  He recorded it: "Fire. God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of the philosophers and the scholars..." and concluded by quoting Psalm 119:16: "I will not forget thy word. Amen."  He wrote this on a paper which was then sewn into his clothes.  He transferred it secretly from clothes to clothes and it was only found after his death.
In 1659 he became ill.  He kept doctors at bay saying that 'Sickness is the natural state of Christians'.  He succumbed in 1662.  His last words were 'May God never abandon me'. 
After his death, his 'Pensees', French for 'Thoughts', was published.  This is an incredible piece of work, one of the most extraordinary works of theology that I've come across.  It's here that he published Pascal's Wager, an argument that believing in God makes more sense than not believing. 
He was quite a man and it's a shame that he died so young.

Author Timeline

Still in the 17th century.  This is another one of those eras that were absolutely thick with important thought and change.

BC
Homer 7th or 8th Cent(?)
Aeschylus 525-456
Sophocles 497-405
Herodotus 484-425
Plato 428-347
Aristotle 384-322
Lucretius 99-55(?)
AD
Nicomachus 60-120(?)
Marcus Aurelius 121-180
Hobbes 1588-1679
Milton 1608-1674
Pascal 1623-1662
Swift 1667-1745
Rousseau 1712-1778
Kant 1724-1804
Mill 1806-1873

Elizabeth Barrett Browning - Poetry

I've known the title of this poem, 'How do I Love Thee' for years, but I don't know if I've ever read the poem itself.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my saints, -I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! -and if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

That first line is arresting and deservedly well known.  Browning puts out a challenge.  She loves the target of the poem, can she put that love into words?  Specifically, can she show the different ways that she loves?
I'm not so sure that she can.  Take the first on the list: I love thee to the depth and breadth and height/My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight/For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.  I'm not at all sure what that means.  Ok, the first line is the size of the soul (or perhaps the volume); the size it can reach when 'feeling out of sight for the ends of being and ideal grace'.  Why is the soul out of sight?  Does that help it somehow with the ends of being?  Does it help it achieve some kind of ideal grace?
The next few on the list seem fine to me but I'm again stumped by the 'passion put to use/In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith'.  Is that such a personal reference of Brownings that it isn't universally available to others?  Or is she saying that she hasn't had such passion since she believed things as a child?
I do like the last lines, about love after death.  I know there is some question in religious circles as to what the afterlife will actually be like.  I like the nod to that uncertainty and the hope that she will be able to continue that love.

September Readings

Here we go with September

Pascal: Pensees (72, 82-83, 100, 128, 131, 139, 142-143, 171, 194-195, 219, 229, 233-234, 242, 277, 282, 289, 298, 303, 320, 323, 325, 330-331, 374, 385, 392, 395-397, 409, 412-413, 416, 418, 425, 430, 434-435, 463, 491, 525-531, 538, 543, 547, 553, 556, 564, 571, 586, 598, 607-610, 613, 619-620, 631, 640, 644, 673, 675, 684, 692-693, 737, 760, 768, 792-793)* link
Pascal: Treatise on the Arithmetical Triangle link

I've read the Pensees already and Pascal is a brilliant writer.