Blaise Pascal – death, Aug. 19, 1662

There are only three kinds of persons; those who serve God having found Him; others who are occupied in seeking Him not having found Him; while the remainder live without seeking Him and without having found Him. The first are reasonable and happy the last are foolish and unhappy; those between are unhappy and reasonable.

                – Blaise Pascal, Pensees (1660) paragraph 257.

 …True fear comes from faith; false fear comes from doubt…

                – Blaise Pascal, Pensees (1660) paragraph 262.

It is dangerous to make man see too clearly his equality with the brutes without showing him his greatness. It is also dangerous to make his see his greatness too clearly apart from his vileness. It is still more dangerous to leave him in ignorance of both. But it is very advantageous to show him both. Man must not think that he is on a level either with the brutes or with the angels nor must he be ignorant of both sides of his nature; but he must know both.

                – Blaise Pascal, Pensees (1660) paragraph 418.

Nature has some perfections to show that she is the image of God and some defects to show that she is only His image.

                – Blaise Pascal, Pensees (1660) paragraph 580.

The difference between Jesus Christ and Mahomet.- Mahomet was not foretold; Jesus Christ was foretold. Mahomet slew; Jesus Christ caused His own to be slain. Mahomet forbade reading; the Apostles ordered reading.

                – Blaise Pascal, Pensees (1660) paragraph 599.

There is a pleasure in being in a ship beaten about by a storm when we are sure that it will not founder. The persecutions which harass the Church are of this nature.

                – Blaise Pascal, Pensees (1660) paragraph 859.

Blaise Pascal died this date 8/19/1662, at Paris, France.  He was a scientist, a polemicist, most importantly a Christian.  His death followed a lengthy illness.  Pascal was born 6/19/1623 at Clermont.

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Michael Wigglesworth – death, Jun 10, 1705

“The  Day  of  Doom”

  (these lines from near the end)

 This O New-England hast thou got

By riot, and excess:

This hast thou brought upon thy self

By pride and wantonness.

Thus must thy worldlyness be whipt.

They, that too much do crave,

Provoke the Lord to take away

Such blessings as they have.

 

We have been also threatened

With worser things than these:

And God can bring them on us still,

To morrow if he please.

For if his mercy be abus’d,

Which holpe us at our need

And mov’d his heart to pitty us,

We shall be plagu’d indeed.

 

Beware, O sinful Land, beware;

And do not think it strange

That sorer judgements are at hand,

Unless thou quickly change.

Or God, or thou, must quickly change;

Or else thou art undon:

Wrath cannot cease, if sin remain,

Where judgement is begun.

 

Michael Wigglesworth died this date 6/10/1705, at Malden, Massachusetts.  He graduated from Harvard in 1851.  His famous The Day of Doom is thought to have been first published in 1662.  (At least one source says he died 5/27/1705.)  He appears to have been born in England and that most likely on 10/18/1631.

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