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Is there a name for a stronger version of Pascal's Wager in which one wagers that continuationism is true?

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[Pascal's Wager](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_wager) frames the discussion in terms of the possible benefits and costs of betting that God does or does not exist. In this sense, if one bets that God exists and He actually does, the reward for the wagerer would begin either immediately upon death or on judgement day with the resurrection of the dead (depending on which afterlife theology turns out to be true). In any case, notice that there is no explicit expectancy of extraordinary rewards in *this life* (before death), at least not in the standard formulation of the wager. But what if we make the wager a bit stronger and specific? What if instead of wagering that Christianity is true (in a general sense), we wager that [continuationism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessationism_versus_continuationism) specifically is true? I posit that this is a stronger version of the wager because it would require not only committing oneself to the belief that Christianity is true, **but also that a continuationist version of Christianity is true**. I foresee three possible outcomes for this wager: 1. *If continuationism is true and the wager works*, then one would get to experience a continuationist version of Christianity *in this life* (no need to wait until death in order to confirm whether Christianity was actually true or not). 2. *If continuationism is true and the wager doesn't work*, this would indicate that the wager was not performed correctly (depending on the actual details of the specific version of continuationism that is true). 3. *If continuationism is false*, then the wager should not work (unless some kind of demonic counterfeit version of continuationism is experienced, but at least this would confirm that the supernatural is true). Additionally, there is always the option of falling back on a traditional version of Pascal's wager and settling for a cessationist version of Christianity (if the wagerer is willing to do so, of course). Has anyone come up with this modified version of Pascal's wager (or anything similar) already? Is there a name for it in the Christian literature? ____ **Note**: In order to avoid semantic misunderstandings (my apologies for being unclear), when I claim that I'm proposing a *stronger* version of Pascal's wager, by *stronger* I meant to say that my modified version demands a *stronger epistemic commitment* from the wagerer, because the wagerer not only has to commit themselves to believe that the Christian God exists, but also that the Christian God *continues* to operate and manifest in ways documented in the Book of Acts (aka *continuationism*). It's a more risky gamble (the odds of being right diminish as we add more constraints), but the rewards in *this life* could be greater if *continuationism* turns out to be true and the wager to work.
Asked by user50422
Sep 4, 2022, 11:07 PM
Last activity: Sep 9, 2022, 03:13 PM