NEWS A Kindred Spirit
I came across the testimony of Blaise Pascal, a remarkable scientist who, like me, was blessed with the Holy Spirit. Pascal lived in France during the 17th century. He was a renaissance man. He was a mathematician and a physicist. He made important contributions to the construction of mechanical calculators (the predecessors of our modern day computers), the study of fluids, and clarified the concepts of pressure and vacuum by generalizing the work of Evangelista Torricelli. Pascal also wrote powerfully in defense of the scientific method.
Pascal was a mathematician of the first order. He helped create two major new areas of research. He wrote a significant treatise on the subject of projective geometry at the ripe old age of sixteen. Beginning in 1654, he corresponded with the great Pierre de Fermat on probability theory, strongly influencing the development of modern economics and social science.
In late 1654, Pascal's life changed forever. On the evening of November 23, Pascal saw Christ while reading John 17:
After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. (John 17:1-5)
Pascal recorded his spiritual re-birth on a piece of parchment. His testimony was found sewn into his clothing after his death on August 19, 1662. I've reprinted Pascal's testimony below. As you will see, it is powerful and beautiful (note the references to the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
*****************
THE MEMORIAL
Year of Grace 1654
From about half past ten at night to about half an hour after midnight,
FIRE
"God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob" (Exodus 3:6), not of philosophers and scholars.
Certitude, heartfelt joy, peace.
God of Jesus Christ.
God of Jesus Christ.
"My God and Your God" (John 20:17).
"Your God shall be my God" (Ruth 1:16).
The world forgotten, everything except God.
He can only be found by the ways that have been taught in the Gospels.
Greatness of the human soul.
"O righteous Father, the world has not known You, but I have known You" (John 17:25).
Joy, Joy, Joy, tears of joy.
I have separated myself from him.
"They have forsaken me, the spring of living water" (Jeremiah 2:13).
"My God, will you leave me?" (cf. Matthew 27:46).
Let me not be cut off from him for ever!
"Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (John 17:3).
Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ.
I am separated from him; for I have shunned him, denied him, crucified him.
May I never be separated from him.
He can only be kept by the ways taught in the gospel.
Complete and sweet renunciation.
Total submission to Jesus Christ and to my director.
Everlasting joy in return for one day's striving upon earth.
"I will not neglect your Word" (Psalm 119:16). Amen (913-29,61)
*****************
Source: Mind on Fire, Edited by Dr. James M. Houston
Pascal didn't tell anybody about his blessing - not even his sister Jacqueline. But he carried his testimony wherever he went.
After Pascal's conversion at the age of thirty-one, he recorded how his mind blazed with the burning conviction being overwhelmed by light. Pascal's heart shined! A certitude seized him that endowed him with a new level of knowledge. For many years he had examined God merely as a series of concepts, as any brilliant scientist would do. Now he stood before God's presence and the reality of God himself. With the heart of Jesus, Pascal saw that man was given the gift of a new dimension of knowledge, the entry into a new level of existence.
It was during the remaining eight short years of his life that Pascal's "Pensees" (the French word for "Thoughts") were produced. Pascal clearly saw that through reason alone one could not come to understand all of realty. Knowledge cannot ascertain the whole; it can only replace the wholeness with a pretension to the whole. Pascal saw that faith sees beyond the limitations of reason. He understood the centrality of the heart.
In "Pensees," Pascal wrote:
"The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing. It is the heart which perceives God and not the reason. This is what faith is: God perceived by the heart, not by the reason."
Pascal discovered, as I did, that the mind is not what perceives God and His love, but rather the heart. God is perceived by the heart - not by the reason. This is, says Pascal, what faith is.
Many scientists are atheists because they, for whatever reason, have not had the eyes of their hearts opened. Their minds overwhelm their hearts. A brilliant scientist with an incredible mind - a genius, as it were - Pascal understood that God is perceived only by the heart. The heart is central to seeing God and understanding the power and beauty of His everlasting love.
In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul said:
"... no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him," but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searchers all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:9-16)
Pascal suffered from ill-health throughout his life. He died on August 19, 1662, shortly after his 39th birthday. I write this blog on the eve of the month and day of Pascal's passing. I can't think of a better way to remember this brilliant man than to marvel at his encounter with the Lord and how profoundly it changed his life.
For all of his historic scientific accomplishments, what was greatest about Pascal was his heart. He had the heart of Jesus. Pascal was blessed. He is a kindred spirit.
May your heart be one with the Father and Son.
Agape,
Steve
Pascal was a mathematician of the first order. He helped create two major new areas of research. He wrote a significant treatise on the subject of projective geometry at the ripe old age of sixteen. Beginning in 1654, he corresponded with the great Pierre de Fermat on probability theory, strongly influencing the development of modern economics and social science.
In late 1654, Pascal's life changed forever. On the evening of November 23, Pascal saw Christ while reading John 17:
After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. (John 17:1-5)
Pascal recorded his spiritual re-birth on a piece of parchment. His testimony was found sewn into his clothing after his death on August 19, 1662. I've reprinted Pascal's testimony below. As you will see, it is powerful and beautiful (note the references to the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
*****************
THE MEMORIAL
Year of Grace 1654
From about half past ten at night to about half an hour after midnight,
FIRE
"God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob" (Exodus 3:6), not of philosophers and scholars.
Certitude, heartfelt joy, peace.
God of Jesus Christ.
God of Jesus Christ.
"My God and Your God" (John 20:17).
"Your God shall be my God" (Ruth 1:16).
The world forgotten, everything except God.
He can only be found by the ways that have been taught in the Gospels.
Greatness of the human soul.
"O righteous Father, the world has not known You, but I have known You" (John 17:25).
Joy, Joy, Joy, tears of joy.
I have separated myself from him.
"They have forsaken me, the spring of living water" (Jeremiah 2:13).
"My God, will you leave me?" (cf. Matthew 27:46).
Let me not be cut off from him for ever!
"Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (John 17:3).
Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ.
I am separated from him; for I have shunned him, denied him, crucified him.
May I never be separated from him.
He can only be kept by the ways taught in the gospel.
Complete and sweet renunciation.
Total submission to Jesus Christ and to my director.
Everlasting joy in return for one day's striving upon earth.
"I will not neglect your Word" (Psalm 119:16). Amen (913-29,61)
*****************
Source: Mind on Fire, Edited by Dr. James M. Houston
Pascal didn't tell anybody about his blessing - not even his sister Jacqueline. But he carried his testimony wherever he went.
After Pascal's conversion at the age of thirty-one, he recorded how his mind blazed with the burning conviction being overwhelmed by light. Pascal's heart shined! A certitude seized him that endowed him with a new level of knowledge. For many years he had examined God merely as a series of concepts, as any brilliant scientist would do. Now he stood before God's presence and the reality of God himself. With the heart of Jesus, Pascal saw that man was given the gift of a new dimension of knowledge, the entry into a new level of existence.
It was during the remaining eight short years of his life that Pascal's "Pensees" (the French word for "Thoughts") were produced. Pascal clearly saw that through reason alone one could not come to understand all of realty. Knowledge cannot ascertain the whole; it can only replace the wholeness with a pretension to the whole. Pascal saw that faith sees beyond the limitations of reason. He understood the centrality of the heart.
In "Pensees," Pascal wrote:
"The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing. It is the heart which perceives God and not the reason. This is what faith is: God perceived by the heart, not by the reason."
Pascal discovered, as I did, that the mind is not what perceives God and His love, but rather the heart. God is perceived by the heart - not by the reason. This is, says Pascal, what faith is.
Many scientists are atheists because they, for whatever reason, have not had the eyes of their hearts opened. Their minds overwhelm their hearts. A brilliant scientist with an incredible mind - a genius, as it were - Pascal understood that God is perceived only by the heart. The heart is central to seeing God and understanding the power and beauty of His everlasting love.
In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul said:
"... no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him," but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searchers all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:9-16)
Pascal suffered from ill-health throughout his life. He died on August 19, 1662, shortly after his 39th birthday. I write this blog on the eve of the month and day of Pascal's passing. I can't think of a better way to remember this brilliant man than to marvel at his encounter with the Lord and how profoundly it changed his life.
For all of his historic scientific accomplishments, what was greatest about Pascal was his heart. He had the heart of Jesus. Pascal was blessed. He is a kindred spirit.
May your heart be one with the Father and Son.
Agape,
Steve
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