COMMENT: THE HIDDENNESS OF GOD

2021 ◽  
Vol 102 (1102) ◽  
pp. 853-856
Author(s):  
Brian Davies OP
Keyword(s):  
Hiddenness Of God

The Problem of Alternative Monotheisms: Another Serious Challenge to Theism

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-51
Author(s):  
Raphael Lataster
Keyword(s):  
Infinite Number ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
God Concept ◽  
Classical Theism ◽  
The World ◽  
Divine Transcendence ◽  
Hiddenness Of God

Theistic and analytic philosophers of religion typically privilege classical theism by ignoring or underestimating the great threat of alternative monotheisms.[1] In this article we discuss numerous god-models, such as those involving weak, stupid, evil, morally indifferent, and non-revelatory gods. We find that theistic philosophers have not successfully eliminated these and other possibilities, or argued for their relative improbability. In fact, based on current evidence – especially concerning the hiddenness of God and the gratuitous evils in the world – many of these hypotheses appear to be more probable than theism. Also considering the – arguably infinite – number of alternative monotheisms, the inescapable conclusion is that theism is a very improbable god-concept, even when it is assumed that one and only one transcendent god exists.[1] I take ‘theism’ to mean ‘classical theism’, which is but one of many possible monotheisms. Avoiding much of the discussion around classical theism, I wish to focus on the challenges in arguing for theism over monotheistic alternatives. I consider theism and alternative monotheisms as entailing the notion of divine transcendence.

Protest, Worship, and the Deformation of Prayer

2020 ◽  
pp. 193-210
Author(s):  
Michael C. Rea
Keyword(s):  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Hiddenness Of God

The idea that lament and protest might have a valuable place in Christian liturgy and practice has become a topic of increasing philosophical-theological interest. In The Hiddenness of God, Rea defended the view that God authorizes and validates lament and protest from human beings—including impious protest, which emerges from outright anger, sorrow, or other negative emotions in response to apparent divine injustice. But this view apparently stands in tension with widespread assumptions about worship and prayer. In particular, it is hard to see how God can authorize and validate impious protest if it is always true that everyone ought to worship God; and it is also tempting to think that impious protest is an instance of what Lauren Winner calls the ‘characteristic deformation of prayer’, which, in turn, suggests that it is defective prayer that should neither be authorized nor validated by God. This chapter addresses these apparent tensions.

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