The Theology of Hiddenness: J. L. Schellenberg, Divine Hiddenness, and the Role of Theology

The paper explores Pascal’s idea according to which the teachings of the Church assume the hiddenness of God, and, hence, there is nothing surprising in the fact of the occurrence of nonresistant nonbelief. In order to show it the paper invokes the doctrines of the Incarnation, the Church as the Body of Christ, and the Original Sin. The first one indicates that there could be greater than nonbelief obstacle in forming interpersonal bonds with God, namely the ontological chasm between him and human persons. The assumption of the human nature by the Son of God could be seen as a cure for this problem. The doctrine of the Church shows it as an end in itself, and in order for the Church to have meaning and to exist there has to be nonbelief in the world. Finally, the dogma of the Original Sin shows that there is no category of purely nonresistant nonbelief. The paper also addresses Schellenberg’s “accommodationist strategy” from the perspective of the Christian theology and in the last part it investigates what should be the influence of the fact of the hiddenness on theology’s take on the divine revelation.

Over de verborgenheid van God. De preken van rabbi Shapira in het getto van Warschau

This article examines sermons on the hiddenness of God rabbi Shapira delivered during the years 1939-1942 under unbearable circumstances in the ghetto of Warsaw. Based on studies of the Hebrew Bible and the Jewish tradition, the Hasidic rabbi explores the problem of God’s hiddenness in order to support perseverance in this dreadful environment. The article begins with a summary of non-European rabbinical reactions to the rumours of eradication of the Jews and then proceeds to discuss rabbi Shapira’s five ‘concepts’ of God's hiddenness. These concepts find their theological focus in the unity of God and his people.

Protest, Worship, and the Deformation of Prayer

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.

Narrative, Liturgy, and the Hiddenness of God

Chapter 7 draws on recent work by Eleonore Stump and Sarah Coakley to defend a response to the problem of divine hiddenness that is consistent with the claim that God does not permit divine hiddenness in order to secure greater human goods. Although this conclusion is consistent with the claim that God permits divine hiddenness for the sake of some greater good, it rules out the idea that whatever human goods may be promoted by divine hiddenness are the goods for the sake of which God remains hidden.

Michael C. Rea. The Hiddenness of God

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Seeing the Face of Christ

The problem of the hiddenness of God has at least two kinds: an experiential and an intellectual problem. Despite differences, a solution to either would require some account of how God is personally known. Yet for the Christian tradition, God is known in the man Jesus Christ. I suggest, then, a Christological reformulation of the hiddenness argument, and proceed to offer an account of how Christ is known. With special attention to the ecclesiology of Gregory of Nyssa, I offer an account of knowing Christ in the church. I then explore this as a response to the problems of divine hiddenness, and anticipate a considerable objection to my response.