O sentido da fé em Pascal

Abstract

Pascal s theory of faith involves a constant conflict between, on the one hand, the craving of a created being for an eternal state of glory and, on the other, the present state of sin wherein this creature finds himself abandoned to his own resources. In the absence of grace, man wants and does nothing that could actually approximate him to God, but continues enclosed in himself; whereas the influence of grace dispenses human being from deciding between the good and the bad use of it, leading man to desire and act according to God s will without expecting any reward for it. Although the relationship between God and man might be described in these terms, Pascal does not so restrict his thinking. On the contrary, the Jansenist philosopher searches for the manifestation of sin through all orders of human constitution, that is, body, intellect and will, showing what are the new forms of desiring, deciding and behaving of a being who no longer possesses a clear and sound view of God s and his own nature. Pascal thereafter tries to understand the role of grace in face of human confusion with his misery and endurance. This study attempts to answer what, according to Pascal, is the status of faith in human life. For such, the relation between the three human constitutive orders, both in state of sin and in state of grace, needs to be elaborated on, with an emphasis on the order of will in manifestations of pride and charity. This investigation is deepened through an enquiry not only into the sinner and the convert, but especially into those undergoing a conversion process.