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Introduction: The Hiddenness of God

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2009

Daniel Howard-Snyder
Affiliation:
Seattle Pacific University
Paul Moser
Affiliation:
Loyola University, Chicago
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Summary

Many people are perplexed, even troubled, by the fact that God (if such there be) has not made His existence sufficiently clear. This fact – the fact of divine hiddenness – is a source of existential concern for many people. That is, it raises problems about their very existence, particularly its value and purpose. The fact of divine hiddenness is also, according to some people, a source of good evidence against the existence of God. That is, it allegedly poses a cognitive problem for theism, in the form of evidence challenging the assumption that God exists. (Here and throughout we speak of “God” as broadly represented in the historic Jewish and Christian theistic traditions.)

Existential Concern

The existential problem often takes the form of a crisis of faith, sometimes leading to a collapse of trust in God. Jewish and Christian theists have committed themselves to the God who, they believe, loves them perfectly. They expect to find their greatest good, their ultimate fulfillment, in personal and social relationship with God. In the Jewish tradition, this general idea finds elaboration in God's entering into a covenant relationship with the people of Israel, who are to respond to God in faithful obedience. In the Christian tradition, the idea sometimes takes a more individualistic turn. To be sure, God enters into covenant relationship with a “people” – namely, the Church inaugurated by Jesus Christ – but Christians often emphasize the importance of each person's entering into a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. There are, of course, differences in interpretation and emphasis between and within the distinctive traditions of Judaism and Christianity.

Type
Chapter
Information
Divine Hiddenness
New Essays
, pp. 1 - 23
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2001

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