Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T19:24:51.185Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
This chapter is part of a book that is no longer available to purchase from Cambridge Core

5 - Religious experience and cumulative case arguments

Jay W. Wood
Jay W. Wood
Affiliation:
Wheaton College, Illinois
Get access

Summary

In 1654, eight years before his death, the brilliant French mathematician, scientist and philosopher Blaise Pascal had a powerful religious experience that lasted two hours and has come to be known as “the night of fire”. From roughly 10.30pm to 12.30am, Pascal claims to have encountered God. Ever the scientist, Pascal attempted to write down what was happening to him during the experience. What he managed to write down is as follows:

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.

God of Jesus Christ.

Thy God and my God

“Thy God shall be my God.”

Oblivious of the world and of everything, except God.

He is encountered only by the way taught in the Gospel.

Greatness of the human soul.

Just Father, the world has not known Thee, but I have known Thee.

Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy.

I am separated from Him.

“They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters.”

My God will you leave me?

Let me not be separated from Him eternally

This is the life eternal, that they know thee, the one true God, and the one Thou has sent, Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ.

I am separated from Him, I have fled Him, renounced Him, crucified Him.

Let me never be separated from Him.

He is only preserved by the ways taught in the Gospel.

Renunciation, total and sweet. […]

Type
Chapter
Information
God , pp. 97 - 132
Publisher: Acumen Publishing
Print publication year: 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×