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>"We can understand nothing of God's works unless we accept the principle that
>he wished to blind some and enlighten others." (#232).
>
>But isn't this unfair? Not if you understand what Pascal is getting at. For
>him, knowing God without knowing one's own wretchedness first would be
>disastrous. Thus, God's is "hidden" until one is humbled.
>
>"Knowing God without knowing our own wretchedness makes for pride; knowing our
>own wretchedness without knowing God makes for despair." (#192)
>
>Helpful here is Thomas V. Morris' marvelous book on Pascal's thought, "Making
>Sense of it All" (Eerdmans), in which he writes:
>
>"[Pascal] did not believe that pure reason could ferret out evidence and churn
>out proofs that would satisfy all doubters and draw us nearer to God. He did
>not believe that overwhelming dramatic religious experience and evidences
>would be available to just anyone and everyone, regardless of their epistemic
>position."
Prov.25:2 relates here: "It is the glory of God to coneal a matter, but the
glory of kins to search out a matter."
>So, to those who question "evidence of design," part of a complete answer must
>be that it is intended to be obscure.
There's more to it than just questioning the evidence of design. It seems
to me that some are satisfied to stop there, while others want to go on to
learn if the design can be understood further.
Steve
____________________________________________________________________________
Steven S. Clark, Ph.D. Phone: (608) 263-9137
Associate Professor FAX: (608) 263-4226
Dept. of Human Oncology and email: ssclark@facstaff.wisc.edu
UW Comprehensive Cancer Ctr
University of Wisconsin "It is the glory of God to conceal a
Madison, WI 53792 matter, but the glory of kings to
search out a matter."
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