God Owes Us Nothing: A Brief Remark on Pascal's Religion and on the Spirit of Jansenism

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University of Chicago Press, 1995 - Biography & Autobiography - 238 pages
God Owes Us Nothing reflects on the centuries-long debate in Christianity: how do we reconcile the existence of evil in the world with the goodness of an omnipotent God, and how does God's omnipotence relate to people's responsibility for their own salvation or damnation. Leszek Kolakowski approaches this paradox as both an exercise in theology and in revisionist Christian history based on philosophical analysis. Kolakowski's unorthodox interpretation of the history of modern Christianity provokes renewed discussion about the historical, intellectual, and cultural omnipotence of neo-Augustinianism.

"Several books a year wrestle with that hoary conundrum, but few so dazzlingly as the Polish philosopher's latest."—Carlin Romano, Washington Post Book World

"Kolakowski's fascinating book and its debatable thesis raise intriguing historical and theological questions well worth pursuing."—Stephen J. Duffy, Theological Studies

"Kolakowski's elegant meditation is a masterpiece of cultural and religious criticism."—Henry Carrigan, Cleveland Plain Dealer

From inside the book

Contents

Why Did the Catholic Church Condemn the Teaching of Saint Augustine?
3
Does God Command Impossible Things?
9
Does God Compel Us to Be Good?
14
Although Unfree We Are Free
17
Can We Reject God?
21
For Whom Did Jesus Die?
24
What Was Wrong with Augustine?
30
A Remark on the Antecedents of the Quarrel
44
PART TWO
111
Pascals Sad Religion
113
The Strategy of Conversion
118
Our Death Our Body Our SelfDeception
126
Spotting God in the Lifeless Universe
135
Good Reason Bad Reason Heart
145
The Discontinuity of the Universe
160
Pascals Modernity
170

A Note on the Provinciales
61
How to Avail Oneself of the Heavenly Bread
67
SaintCyrans Answer
73
A Note on Philosophy
81
Infants in Hell
82
The Gnostic Temptation
86
Winners and Losers
102
A Note on Politics
175
Pascal after the Pelagian Conquest
182
Was Pascal an Existential Thinker?
187
A Note on Skepticism and Pascals Last Word
191
Notes
199
Index
233
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