The Memorial

Name: The Memorial
Author: Blaise Pascal

Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, and Catholic writer of genius, famed for work on conic sections, probability, and the calculating machine. After a night of intense religious experience in 1654, recorded in his Memorial, he devoted himself to defending the Christian faith. Our library holds that Memorial and his Pensées, the unfinished notes toward an apology for Christianity that contain his celebrated argument known as Pascal's Wager.

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First published: 1654
Category: Devotional
Length: 600 words · about 1 hour
Chapters: 1

About this book

The brief, intense record Blaise Pascal kept of the night of 23 November 1654, when he experienced God's presence as fire. Written in a few broken, joyful lines and carried on his person for the rest of his life, the Memorial marks the turning point of his days. It is less an argument than a testimony: the God of Abraham found him.