I give it 5 stars and I don't necessarily agree with all of his theology. His points are made from such a unique stand point. His ways of reasoning are very unique to me, yet he doesn't lead you to rely on his type of reasoning, but on the power of the Holy Spirit.
He makes many good points for any atheist to consider. His work on the subject of the Jews is interesting. I disagree with his stance on proofs of nature and some of His views God's restorative plans for Isreal, but who had views for God to restore Isreal 300 years ago?
If you like reading books, this one is diffrent and well thought out!

This is the finest introduction to Blaise Pascal that I have ever seen! Within the pages of this book lie some of the greatest thoughts the human mind could ever aspire to perceive. 'Mind on Fire' is an easy to read, well-arranged anthology of Pascal's thought. In this book you will begin to see the role of logic and reason in the life of faith. If you are looking for an in-depth book, a book that penetrates the deep well of skeptical thought, 'Mind on Fire' will not waste your time or your money. Simply put, Pascal is a genius with a knack for apologetical thought.

In case you're wondering, this IS the Pensees. The only difference is that these thoughts are arranged topically under a new title plus five letters from Pascal are included in the rear of the book. This is not an abridged edition of the Pensees. That being said, this book will stimulate your thinking about human nature, divine sovereignty, faith, logic and apologetics in a way that few other works will. Being deeply influenced by Augustine, Pascal had an uncanny way for accurately portraying the human condition. His grasp of the sinful nature of mankind and the limits of reason was acute. Many believe that Pascal was a fideist (faith is not supported by reason) due to a cursory reading of the Pensees yet a more exhaustive reading will prove otherwise. Many of the Pensees, while not rationally proving Christianity, certainly state that he believed in a reasonable faith and not a leap of faith beyond logic. I would recommend this edition as opposed to the Pensees because of its logical arrangement in addition to the thought-provoking letters that are placed in the back. Definitely a great read.

"For Breadth of scope and depth of insight nothing rivals this collection", says on the dust jacket. I heartily agree! This collection of readings is the best supplement to Lenten and Easter devotional reading that I have ever used. I've never seen such a selection of great authors' writings between the covers of one book. Each of the 72 selections are about 4 or 5 pages long. They are grouped into 6 sections that form a progression from the Invitation prepare for Easter by seriously examining oneself and following through on the themes of Temptation, Passion, Crucifixion, Resurrection and New Life. There are quite a variety of perspectives represented in these writings. Every one of them will reward the thoughtful reader in different ways. There isn't a dull one in the bunch. These aren't shallow "inspirational" writings. They will challenge and encourage, and sustain serious reflection. It's hard to pick a favorite, but I'd say that Malcolm Muggeridge's "Impending Resurrection" was the high point. I highly recommend this book.

This is a small, easily-carried book organized into the topics of Invitation, Temptation, Passion, Crucifixion, Resurrection and New Life. The 72 essays are from an eclectic mix of authors: Oscar Wilde, Thomas Merton, John Donne, Kahlil Gibran, Blaise Pascal, Martin Luther, G.K.Chesterton, Mother Teresa, Dylan Thomas, John Updike, Dorothy Sayers, Madeleine L'Engle, Leo Tolstoy and many others. Selections are typically five to six pages long, and printed in a large clean font on heavy paper. There are a few poems, but primarily prose is used to inspire and to comfort.

A wonderful little book.

This book will take you through the season of Lent, Holy Week and the glories of Easter. A wonderful thought provoking book to be enjoyed year after year.

If you haven't read Malcom Muggeridge, don't give up yet--you may yet do so. Should that happy event occur, you may end up as puzzled as I am that most of Malcom Muggeridge is out of print. A Third Testament, for instance was the accompanying book for a series of films/TV shows written and narrated by Mr. M.M.. You'd think since Little, Brown published the book, and it was owned by Time-Life, which also owned the shows, that ads would be popping up on late night TV for the whole Time-Life Muggeridge collection. Think again. Or you'd think that since Collins Books (now part of HarperCollins) brought out the two volumes of his autobiography, The Chronicles of Wasted Time, to rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic, that someone might trouble to keep them in print. Think again again.

The reason must be that the author's life was too dull, his writing style too lifeless and dry, his testament (whatever that is) prescribed bedtime reading for insomniacs. His titles notably absent from the bestseller list, he would understandably not be a household name. One wouldn't recognize him as a former editor of the British humour magazine, Punch, or as a player on the BBC's send-up of the news, That Was the Week That Was. But that would explain why his books are so side-splittingly funny. One also wouldn't know that he did the first BBC interview with Mother Teresa, and was profoundly moved by her life, an inspiration evident in A Third Testament. That would explain why his books are so profound. Nor would one know of the awakening in his soul that led him to tirelessly denounce the idiocy of modern life even as Malcom and his wife, Kitty, simplified their own lives to follow a different drummer. That would explain why this book by a late convert to the Catholic Church was reprinted by Plough Publishing and praised by readers of all spiritual stripes. But nothing can explain why these Muggeridge books are all out of print, or keep readers who have tasted one from tracking down them all.

AN AMAZING BOOK! I picked this book up randomly. It was in a forgotten RELIGIOUS section of a city library. Malcolm takes scattered history and complicated theology and reveals what it simply looked like in the lives of these great leaders. Definitely food for the heart and the soul!

Muggeridge has created in this book and in the accompanying video series a humble, honest, and beautiful work of simple yet deeply compelling biography. By focusing on the spiritual journeys of six/seven essential figures (in the video series he covers Augustine, Pascal, Kierkegaard, Blake, Tolstoy, and Boenhoffer, and in the book he adds to this group Dostoyevsky) Muggeridge discovers certain necessities of the spiritual life and illuminates them and brings them into focus. Both the book and the video series are essential to any library collection of contemporary religious thought.

Someone must bring these back into print!

This is a great peice of work that speaks so deeply about life. Rarely does one find a book that speaks so deeply and intimately about life and the implications about life. Pascal, a genius before his time, and thanks to God, he is a very gifted individual.

This is a great peice of work that speaks so deeply about life. Rarely does one find a book that speaks so deeply and intimately about life and the implications about life. Pascal, a genius before his time, and thanks to God, he is a very gifted individual.

If you ever read one book on quantum theory, then this is the book you should read. Especially if you want to understand Bell's Inequality and how the experiments done by Alain Aspect in the 1980's verified that the inequality is violated.

I first heard of Bell's inequality and the EPR Paradox while reading an article by David Mermin in "Science News" and did not understand it at all. Then I read Robert Adair's account of it in "The Great Design" (a good book to have) and I began to gain a rudimentary appreciation of what was going on. But it wasn't until I read Ruhla's "Physics of Chance" that I learned how to derive the predictions of quantum theory - the predictions which show that two distant objects can exert influence on one another, "faster than the speed of light."

But Bell's Inequality is not the only subject in here. The text begins with rather simple treatments of probability, applied to coin tosses and telephone queues, on to Boltzmann Statistics, and then finally to quantum theory. So as your reading through the chapters in the book, you pick up the "tools" you need as you go along, in order to understand the more difficult material later on.

Ruhla's writing style is engaging, although silly at times. ...

This book is extraordinarily well written and illustrated. It introduces the major themes of statistical physics at a level that shold be readily accessible to senior undergraduates or scientists and engineers who are non-specialists. Highly recommended; a gem!

In the era of Internet discussions, such "virtual timetravel" Blaise Pascal sounds a very ancient thinker. However, if you ever read "Thoughts" you might see that he isn't just a religious thinker and not just a strange scientist, who loves spiritual philosophies. In "Thoughts" Pascal is teaching mankind of a way of thinking that is a privilege only to the genies. Here he shares with us what is more, then "Homo-sapiens" we created, and what is waiting us to awake ourselves of that lethargic dream we call today "terrestrial boundaries"... Great book for all times and generations so long "we" exist! Call me for more.

It is a common fallacy to assume that science and philosophy first got underway at the end of the 19th Century, and that what went before were rudimentary efforts, at best. Blaise Pascal, writing in the early 17th Century, had the capacity for profound thought, and was blessed with the ability to reveal his thinking with a clarity that would have been the envy of Hemingway. Reading his "Thoughts" left me overjoyed.

This book discusses a very intriguing argument that technically and non-technically inclined people will find fascinating. The delicate topic of the existence of God is handled in a way that no one will find offensive.

Anyone with any mathematical background will have undoubtedly heard of Pascal. His contributions to mathematics are well noted. Groothuis, who is exceptionally familiar with the philosophical work of Pascal, has done an admirable job in a short space of introducing the reader to Pascal the man, mathematician, inventor, and philosopher. The first four chapters lay out the historical background needed to understand Pascal and his work. Chapter 5 introduces the Pensees, the fragments of a grand work that was unfortunately left unfinished by Pascal's early death. Chapter 6 describes the rejection, in the Pensees, of arguing for God's existence from natural theology, the accepted apologetic of the day. Groothuis begins the next chapter by explaining Pascal's apologetic in that he "aimed to spark a philosophical and existential crisis in his readers that would be resolvable only by Christian revelation" (50). Groothuis explores two of Pascal's ideas, "deposed royalty" and his controversial "Wager". Groothuis helps those not familiar with or only passingly familiar with these two topics, as well as the Pensees, to better understand Pascal's thinking and intent. Groothuis' extensive work and expertise on Pascal shines through in this work. Anyone interested in being introduced to the genius of Pascal will find the time they spend reading this book to be well rewarded.

In a review dated 9 May 2000.... "Pascal was a Jansenist, the Roman version of a Catholic...."

I am reasonably certain that he intended to say, "of a Calvinist." The Calvinists claimed, as did the Jansenists, that their view of sin and grace, free will and election, had the backing of St. Augustine. The proposed amendment makes the said review (and replies to the review) much clearer.

For a discussion of the theological issues here involved, I refer the reader to C S Lewis, Poetry and Prose in the Sixteenth Century (formerly English Literature in the Sixteenth Century Excluding Drama) pages 32-44, 162-165, 177-180, 181-192, 438-463.

There comes a point in almost everyone's life when they ask themselves, "What does it all mean?" Blaise Pascal, the French scientist, mathematician, and philospoher reached this point at the age of thirty-one, when he converted to Christianity, and began writing down a number of his thoughts on the meaning of life and the defense of his new-found faith. Pascal died before he could organize and publish his Pensees ("thoughts"), but fortunately for us modern readers, many fine editions have been edited and published through the years.

Tom Morris, a former philosophy professor from Notre Dame, examines Pascal's thoughts on the meaning of life, utilizing his witty and entertaining sense of humor. Morris writes for the everyday man, not just philospohers and theologians, making this book especially useful for high school and college age persons who are examining their lives and seeking to make sense of it all.

So go ahead, take Pascal's wager and bet on Morris's little book to bring you both enlightenment and joy.

[Other excellent editions of Pascal's Pensees are offered by Os Guinness (The Mind on Fire) and Peter Kreeft (Christianity for Modern Pagans) - both are recommended if you want more perspectives on Pascal.]

Morris explains and expounds upon Pascal's thought in an easy to read manner. A apologetic work in the line of G.K. Chesterton and C.S. Lewis.

Pascal is an example of a brilliant scientific mind who found it very reasonable to believe in God, or more specifically a Christian God. Morris, through Pascal, shows that faith and reason can take you farther than either can alone. A great thought provoking book for the person seeking understanding of those hard questions.

One addendum to the reviewer of May 9, 2000 who said "Pascal was a Jansenist, the Roman version of a Catholic":

Jansenism is named after Cornelius Jansen, who was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Ypres in the early 17th century. His main work, Augustinus, was published after his death. In this work, he claimed to have rediscovered the true teaching of St. Augustine concerning grace, which had been lost to the Church for centuries.

Jansenism was never approved of by the Roman Catholic Church, and while Pascal had several Jansenist friends, and wrote in support of their cause, it is questionable whether he himself was a Jansenist. Morris addresses this issue in pages 8 & 9 of this book.

It's truly a wonder that Pascal's Pensees are not more well-known. The paradox that is humankind is broken down, analyzed, and explained in clear, accessible snippets. I was a fan of this work BEFORE Kreeft did his editing and annotation. Man, two of my favorite writers, together in one book... truly a dream come true. If you're on this page reading this review, it must mean you're at least SOMEWHAT interested in this book. Let me help you along--this is a book well worth taking a chance on. It won't fail you. Get it now!

In this marvelous book, Peter Kreeft edits and explicates Pascal's surprisingly modern insights on contemporary life and powerful arguments for Christianity. Kreeft's organization of Pascal's Pensees allows a reader to begin with the problem of the human condition -- that we know we are capable of greatness, but find ourselves in a condition of wretchedness -- and to progress through Pascal's logical and compelling case that only Christ can save us from this state. Kreeft presents the essential Pascal, and adds his own explanation and commentary after each Pensee, to great effect. The book is like an intimate seminar on Pascal, with Professor Kreeft's illuminating lecture notes after each passage from Pascal. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

What is to be said about either Pascal or Kreeft? Geniuses in their own time. This book, as well as the PENSEES, should be required reading for anyone in an existential or faith crisis. Words do no justice; pick up this book (I couldn't put it down).