Blaise Pascal was a genius with many talents. A prominent mathematician, physicist, inventor, and Christian writer, he made important contributions to geometry, calculus, and the development of probability theory. In physics, Pascal's law is the basis for hydraulic operations. At l9, he invented the first calculator. No wonder the computer language PASCAL was named for him!

After his horses bolted over a bridge, nearly killing him on this day, November 23, 1654, Pascal experienced a profound Christian conversion when he encountered the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in a blaze of light. For the rest of his life, he carried a piece of parchment sewn into his coat describing that vision and God's forgiveness of his sins. He decided he must live only for God and started by giving much of his resources to the poor.

Pascal sided with the Jansenists, a Catholic reform movement which stressed grace and morality. Defending them, he published his Provincial Letters in 1657, written as if he were a country bumpkin whose eyes are opened to the conflict between the Jesuits and Jansenists. Its use of colloquial French made it a hit. Voltaire described it as "the first work of genius to appear in France."

Pascal also wrote "Thoughts," a book of Christian defenses. Among its many famous sayings was "The heart has its reasons which reason cannot know."

Read more about Pascal at Christian History Institute ©2006