tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9129556058615289740.post614782424746883619..comments2024-03-15T12:58:50.777-06:00Comments on High Plains Drifter: Blaise PascalTim Sheyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07931913325290043598noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9129556058615289740.post-16692985792179587612015-12-31T12:02:04.187-07:002015-12-31T12:02:04.187-07:00“The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences...“The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.”<br /><br />–Werner Heisenberg (Father of Quantum Physics)Tim Sheyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07931913325290043598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9129556058615289740.post-39843131845556623542013-04-18T10:08:44.980-06:002013-04-18T10:08:44.980-06:00"In faith there is enough light for those who..."In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't. " – Blaise PascalTim Sheyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07931913325290043598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9129556058615289740.post-59544954931925369512013-04-14T15:57:59.136-06:002013-04-14T15:57:59.136-06:00Pascal's Fervor: Thank you for your excellent...Pascal's Fervor: Thank you for your excellent comment. I really can't add anything to what you said because I have read very little on Pascal. <br /><br />For some reason, this post has gotten more pageviews than any other post on my blog.Tim Sheyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07931913325290043598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9129556058615289740.post-393222016978920602013-04-14T14:47:20.654-06:002013-04-14T14:47:20.654-06:00Thanks for stopping by Tim. I wanted you to know t...Thanks for stopping by Tim. I wanted you to know that your visit provoked me to conceive of a comparison that I'd not thought of before. <br /><br />First, here is my response: <br /><br /><i>Tim: Pascal's wager is quite relevant in understanding the man and what drove him. However, I advise you to look at what I consider his most trenchant work -- The Provincial Letters. He was quite unnerving to the Jesuits of the counter-reformation for their vanity and harshness towards traditional Catholics. Traditional Catholics disapproved of the moral laxity the Sorbonne was peddling in hope of restoring influence and power to the RCC.<br /><br />He was a genius in so many ways that those who mock the wager (that you reported on) only demean themselves by asserting they are smarter than he.<br /><br />Since you hold the wager in such high regard, it would serve you well to know something of his many other creations that have gone on to affect our world so heavily. <a href="http://pascalfervor.blogspot.com/2012/03/genius-of-blaise-pascal.html" rel="nofollow"><b>The Genius of Blaise Pascal</b></a>. <br /><br />In very many ways, the <a href="http://pascalfervor.blogspot.com/2011/01/and-winner-is-skunc.html" rel="nofollow">SKUNC</a>s of the GOP (what most people foolishly label as RINOs) are a duplicate of what the Jesuits of the Sorbonne were.<br /><br />It seems to me that those Jesuits that were persecuting Pascal's friend were towards orthodox Catholics as SKUNCs are towards constitutional Americans.</i><br /><br />I emailed the last two paragraphs to a very scholarly Catholic friend of mine. He thought is was worth reviewing the history to see how true the analogy might be. <br /><br />However, at this point I'm not so sure it matters. Humanity survived and went on to thrive the vain evils dabbled in by those very bright by scheming counter-reformationists. Those Jesuits were capable of being shamed through the exposure of their contradictions. The brainiacs of our age have jesters in media and in lower governmental positions whose job it is to make a joke of any contradictions and so they are protected from that shame. <br /><br />Where the devil has convinced men that all evidence of truth is irrelevant, he gains their allegiance. Thus Pascal's wager, though quite compelling, is dismissed by quite a lot of allegedly bright people. Good luck.Pascalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00303025432356543062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9129556058615289740.post-20426247606877810772012-04-12T16:00:06.803-06:002012-04-12T16:00:06.803-06:00Griper: Absolutely. If we seek the Kingdom of He...Griper: Absolutely. If we seek the Kingdom of Heaven first in our lives (living by faith in God), then everything else falls into place.Tim Sheyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07931913325290043598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9129556058615289740.post-14904073950502064922012-04-12T11:40:50.000-06:002012-04-12T11:40:50.000-06:00yup, have to admit that our reasoning sometimes ge...yup, have to admit that our reasoning sometimes gets in the way of our faith. and when that happens we realize our own arrogance.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9129556058615289740.post-52081554115248412722012-04-11T21:14:51.705-06:002012-04-11T21:14:51.705-06:00Wow Tim! As always your experiences are pure manif...Wow Tim! As always your experiences are pure manifestations of how God works in the lives of his servants. You know I read Ez. 21:27 several times and just yesterday I personally witnessed a true set up for the manifestation of Ez. 21: 27 to follow and of James 5. I will send you and Sarah an email. God bless brother. Yes, Pascal went through what all the saints go through and that is going from a distant, sterile understanding of Faith in our Lord Jesus to a true relationship. Narrow is the gate and so many take their hand off the plow and turn back. God please give us your saints the power to keep following you no matter where that leads.. Amen.Traveler Andrew Sheets https://www.blogger.com/profile/09058451876886098168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9129556058615289740.post-34485552653229140852012-04-11T09:27:03.602-06:002012-04-11T09:27:03.602-06:00I think it was beautiful how the Lord put me in th...I think it was beautiful how the Lord put me in that guy's path in Humboldt, Iowa and then in Estherville, Iowa three months later. <br /><br />I remember it well: I had slept outside somewhere in western Nebraska and the next day I got rides all the way to Estherville. I got dropped off in downtown Estherville around 10 PM. I walked past this parking lot and I noticed this car drive into the parking lot and park right next to me. This guy stuck his head out the window of his car and asked, "Are you Tim?" We started talking and he told me he gave me a ride out of Humboldt a few months earlier.<br /><br />He took me to his apartment and showed me Ezekiel 21: 27. He then gave me a ride to a town about an hour south of Estherville. He later sent me a letter telling me about Blaise Pascal.<br /><br />I like where Pascal said that his faith was too remote and academic--like many Christians that I have met. Jesus Christ is REVEALED to us through the Holy Ghost to our spirit; it isn't something we figure out in our heads.Tim Sheyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07931913325290043598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9129556058615289740.post-43318899110565188122012-04-11T09:15:32.097-06:002012-04-11T09:15:32.097-06:00It is no good relying on external authority; each ...It is no good relying on external authority; each Christian is on his own. This speaks volumes. Thank you Tim. A great find.Traveler Andrew Sheets https://www.blogger.com/profile/09058451876886098168noreply@blogger.com