Groothuis' conviction is that Blaise Pascal’s apologetic orientation is still useful to the church. He starts his argument from the point of the human condition. It is appealing in a psychologized and individualistic culture. Groothuis first notes Pascal’s treatment of the contradictions (greatness and misery) of humanity, then his explanation for this human condition, and finally the form of Pascal's argument.

The average American family today consists of 2.63 people; the average Israelite household would have consisted of 50 to 100 people. Jacob's household included about 70 people. The modern "Western" notion of family is more narrow, individualistic, private, and exclusive than the biblical view.