Why Does God Seem So Hidden?

A Trinitarian Theological Response to J. L. Schellenberg's Problem of Divine Hiddenness

Joshua C. Waltman

• Éditeur: Pickwick Publications
• Année: 2023
• ISBN:
  9781666760873
• Sujet: Teología y religión
• Sous-sujet: Teología cristiana

Why does God seem so hidden, obscure, and silent? Why doesn't he make himself known in a more explicit way to those who dispute his existence? This line of questioning presents a perplexing conundrum for Christian theologians. On the one hand, Christians affirm that God's revelation of himself is sufficient, but, on the other hand, it appears that some genuine seekers remain unconvinced of his existence. In recent decades, philosopher J.L. Schellenberg has proposed an argument for atheism that attempts to exploit this apparent contradiction. This book offers a new take by approaching the conversation using a Trinitarian theological lens. The character of Trinitarian love shapes the way God communicates in pursuit of relationships. Namely, God desires spiritually oriented, communal divine-human relationships, and this endeavor necessarily entails hiddenness. This work proposes five spiritual criteria that an individual must meet to be open to having a relationship with the triune God, and these are the criteria that atheists have failed to consider. Articulating these five is exactly what is needed to resolve the vexing theological puzzle of divine hiddenness.

Table des matières

• Title Page
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1: Framing the Issue of God’s Hiddenness
• Chapter 2: Schellenberg’s Argument and Theistic Responses
• Chapter 3: A Trinitarian Counter-Argument to Schellenberg’s Problem
• Chapter 4: Tri-Unity and Unsurpassable Greatness
• Chapter 5: God’s Love: Perichoretic and Participatory
• Chapter 6: Hiddenness as a Byproduct of Trinitarian Revelation
• Chapter 7: Criteria for Openness to a Triune God
• Chapter 8: The Nonexistence of Nonresistant Nonbelief
• Bibliography