- Hardcover: 232 pages
- Publisher: Kessinger Publishing (May 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1161474676
- ISBN-13: 978-1161474671
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 25.4 x 1.4 cm
- Shipping Weight: 621 g
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
"You always fly from the one extreme to the other," replied the monk: "prithee avoid that habit. For, just to show you that we are far from permitting everything, let me tell you that we never suffer such a thing as a formal intention to sin, with the sole design of sinning; and if any person whatever should persist in having no other end but evil in the evil that he does, we break with him at once: such conduct is diabolical.
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We were entirely mistaken. Read the first page
Front Cover | Table of Contents | Excerpt
We were entirely mistaken. Read the first page
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Concordance
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4.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
15 of 18 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Read; Humorous and Insightful, Aug 2 2001
By Dean Brown - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Provincial Letters: (Paperback)
This series of letters by Blaise Pascal has it all; humor, a good guy (Pascal) and bad guys (Jesuits), and a moral.Pascal wrote these letters in defense of his Jansenist friends who were being branded as heretics by the Jesuits. At the time, the Jesuits were a powerful religious order who basically taught Christianity all over the world.
In the Provincial Letters, Pascal exposes and ridicules the doctrines of the Jesuits, especially the "doctrine of probable opinions". The Jesuits (supposedly) were attempting to update the Christian doctrine to satisfy the lax morals of the modern world. In an attempt to "widen the pipe" to heaven, the Jesuits developed "modern" church doctrine (while ignoring traditional church doctrine, and the scriptures) to compensate for societies lax morals.
Pascal, defender of the faith, effectively ridicules their doctrines and shows their errors.
A word of caution, the letters are difficult going with respect to discussions on the finer theological points of view (how far we have fallen regarding knowledge of our faith). A good introduction will orient the reader to the conflicts and provide information regarding many of the theological discussions (the edition I used did not have an introduction; this one may). However, Pascal's writing is so humorous and engaging that I continued reading even when I was lost in the argument.
I am on record (in another review) as stating that religion should be updated to reflect our modern view of the world. However, these letters point out the danger of attempting to do that. I need to reconsider that approach.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
brilliant real life satire, Dec 29 2010
By suburban dissident - Published on Amazon.com
Counted as one of the greatest works in the French language, Pascal's letters are a brilliant mix of acumen, well constructed argument, and withering wit. He launched an assault on the moral theology of the Jesuits during the height of the Jansenist controversy and left a rather amusing and enlightening work what is beautiful in its turn of both phrase and thought.The first half of the letters is Pascal's attempt to relate the opposing views in the controversy and to illuminate the Jesuit views in all their folly. The second half (which is, unfortunately, a bit more functional and less engaging) is a mix of parry and riposte as Pascal swats away the arguments of his opponents. For the first time in my life, i found myself wising that I read French.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pascal - great Physicist, but even greater Christian Philosopher, Oct 22 2010
By John Brown - Published on Amazon.com
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Not too many people know about Pascal's complete and unalterable devotion to Christianity. This book, along with his "Pensees" (Thoughts), shows that he was firstly a Christian and only then - a physicist. As a matter of fact, after discovering Christianity Pascal completely abandoned physics and devoted all his time to studying Christian religion. In his time, just like on ours, or just like in the days of early Christians (See "Church History" by Eusebius), the holy name of Christ and his church was often usurped and improperly held by heretics. Pascal distances himself from such heresies, especially from the Catholic church, and, much like Soren Kierkegaard, or Thoreau, or Socrates, establishes his personal inquiry into the true nature of God and human being. This particular book is a satire on Catholic heresies.This is a good reprint - high quality paper, good formatting, a few minor mistakes in the text (words are not spaced out properly here and there), but overall an excellent edition for the price.
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