God Owes Us Nothing reflects on the centuries-long debate in Christianity: how do we reconcile the existence of evil in the world with the goodness of an omnipotent God, and how does God's omnipotence relate to people's responsibility for their own salvation or damnation. Leszek Kolakowski approaches this paradox as both an exercise in theology and in revisionist Christian history based on philosophical analysis. Kolakowski's unorthodox interpretation of the history of modern Christianity provokes renewed discussion about the historical, intellectual, and cultural omnipotence of neo-Augustinianism.

"Several books a year wrestle with that hoary conundrum, but few so dazzlingly as the Polish philosopher's latest."Carlin Romano, Washington Post Book World

"Kolakowski's fascinating book and its debatable thesis raise intriguing historical and theological questions well worth pursuing."Stephen J. Duffy, Theological Studies

"Kolakowski's elegant meditation is a masterpiece of cultural and religious criticism."Henry Carrigan, Cleveland Plain Dealer

Preface

Pt. 1: Why Did the Catholic Church Condemn the Teaching of Saint Augustine?

Does God Command Impossible Things?

Does God Compel Us to Be Good?

Although Unfree, We Are Free

Can We Reject God?

For Whom Did Jesus Die?

What Was Wrong with Augustine?

A Remark on the Antecedents of the Quarrel

A Note on the Provinciales

How to Avail Oneself of the Heavenly Bread

How to Repent: Saint-Cyran's Answer

A Note on Philosophy

Infants in Hell

The Gnostic Temptation

Winners and Losers

Pt. 2: Pascal's Sad Religion

Pascal's Heresy

The Strategy of Conversion

Our Death, Our Body, Our Self-Deception

Spotting God in the Lifeless Universe

Good Reason, Bad Reason, Heart

Gambling for Faith: The Discontinuity of the Universe

Pascal's Modernity

A Note on Politics

Pascal after the Pelagian Conquest

Was Pascal an "Existential" Thinker?

A Note on Skepticism and Pascal's Last Word

Notes

Index