RE: Paschal's Wager re-formulated mathematically: why being Christian is Rational.
July 24, 2023 at 7:32 am
(This post was last modified: July 24, 2023 at 7:34 am by Fake Messiah.)
(July 24, 2023 at 7:03 am)Nishant Xavier Wrote: Yes, hence I said I was re-formulating it, mathematically, in terms of the probabilistic theory of expectations, well known to us Investment Bankers. Any thoughts on the OP, Zebo? The traditional formulation does need some reworking and updating, but the general premise is sound for the reason I explained. Will get back after work to the rest.
For "argument's sake" you dismissed all other religions, and then you made a caricature of being a Christian as "just someone who goes to church every Sunday" and certainly "this little sacrifice can be made for luck's sake", but it takes much more sacrifice to be a Christian, so evidence must be very good. If it is to hold to Jesus's alleged words, one must give up all his possession and live as a bird; people must pretty much give up on sex; go to war to fight for Christianity; hate members of their family; hate people for many reasons like for being gay, adulterous and other religions; etc. - these are all the things that Christians did and do to be good Christians and go to heaven.
So, again, it is not something to take lightly "Why just not be a Christian for reward's sake?"
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
