BLAISE PASCHAL’S
APOLOGETIC METHODOLOGY
According to Paschal, suppositional truths must be preceded by feelings prior to assumptions. As a Roman Catholic who had been influenced by church philosophy, Paschal’s rationalistic vagary fit well within the contextual framework of the anagogic approach to epistemology, particularly in reference to matters of faith. The Romanist denial of sola Scriptura as the primary methodological approach to the interpretation of Holy Writ appears to have had a tacit impact on Paschal’s views. Rejecting the Thomistic referential proofs for the existence of God based on Aristotelian logical assumptions as the sole provider of divine proof, Paschal gravitated toward the Platonic view of emotive reflections of that, which is felt, over that which is encountered experientially.
Paschal’s acknowledgement pertaining to truths acceptability through the dual channels of reason and heart comportment seems to reflect the Platonic philosophical view of authenticity: shadows of substantive qualities are merely reflecting the superior veracity of ideal thought in reference to spirit realities and material qualities. The intuitional proclivities of emotional powers ability to make allowance for the postulations and extrapolations aside from reason become a significant factor in analyzing Paschalian philosophy. With a rejection of reason as the only verifiable means of understanding given assumptions, faith and reason must therefore exist in a paradoxical tension of conflicting extremities of thought positions. The two posits functions as a whole. Enthusiasm and raison d’être are inexorably connected in Paschal’s thought process.
This duality of function is observed in Paschal’s approach to anthropological considerations of hamartiology and imagio dei. Only man lives within the paradoxical reality of sins wretchedness coupled with the potential of expressing God’s image through redemptions purpose. Concerning sins influence, Paschal believed man typically deals with the despotic condition of sin through diversion procedures, lack of concern and self-deceptive delusional postulations. Anesthesia of the soul comes through this triveca of influence, numbing humanity to the realities of the shortfall of sins presence. As such, depravities condition was viewed as a mortal blow to the endless possibilities for self-advancement from the humanistic vantage and perspective.
The classic arguments for God’s existence as stipulated by Aristotle and Aquinas had value for Paschal, although in a non-traditional format. The proofs applied following faiths inclusions, not before. Thus, they were post-priori, not a priori in value. Faith is validated after acceptance, not before. The Paschalian perspective of analysis concerning natural theologies placement is intriguing. By placing the proofs into a position of subservience as opposed to superiority, Paschal has done much to right the way Christianity views the arguments of philosophy as these perspectives attempt to super-impose themselves upon the faith of churchmen.
Paschal synthesizes the proofs with faith following reasonable deliberation. The proof of Paschalian thought is best seen in his wager pertaining to the truthfulness of God’s reality. Paschal challenged the doubter to receive the proposition of God, not based on evidentiary conclusiveness. Rather, God should be embraced based upon the consequences of non-acceptance. To acquiesce to an understanding regarding God’s existence, even if he is not valid, means nothing is lost in the eternal equation. The opposite would not be the same in the reversed consideration however. Paschalian argumentative theories may provide beneficent antecedents in the ongoing dialogue with postmodern’s, who inherently reject the cosmological assumptions as well as a general assumption.
