Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T05:32:02.930Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Why the problem of evil undermines the problem of divine hiddenness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2016

TRAVIS DUMSDAY*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies, Concordia University of Edmonton, 7128 Ada Blvd., Edmonton, Alberta, T5B 4E4, Canada

Abstract

The two most prominent arguments against theism are the problem of evil and the problem of divine hiddenness. Here I argue that if the evidential problem of evil is truly forceful, it could block the ability of God to reveal His existence in a rationally indubitable way, which would in turn undermine the evidential problem of divine hiddenness.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Azadegan, E. (2013) ‘Divine Hiddenness and human sin: the noetic effect of sin’, Journal of Reformed Theology, 7, 6990.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drange, T. (1993) ‘The argument from non-belief’, Religious Studies, 29, 417432.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, C. S. (2006) ‘Can God be hidden and evident at the same time? Some Kierkegaardian reflections’, Faith and Philosophy, 23, 241253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fenwick, P. (1996) ‘The neurophysiology of religious experience’, in Bhugra, D. (ed.) Psychiatry and Religion (London: Routledge), 167177.Google Scholar
Hay, D. (1994) ‘The biology of God: What is the current status of Hardy's Hypothesis?’, International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 4, 123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henry, D. (2001) ‘Does reasonable nonbelief exist?’, Faith and Philosophy, 18, 7592.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henry, D. (2008) ‘Reasonable doubts about reasonable nonbelief’, Faith and Philosophy, 25, 276289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hick, J. (1981) ‘Soul-Making Theodicy’, in Davis, Stephen (ed.) Encountering Evil (Westminster: John Knox), reprinted in Peterson, et al. (eds) Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings, 3rd edn (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), 341353.Google Scholar
Keller, J. (1995) ‘The hiddenness of God and the problem of evil’, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 37, 1324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, R. (2008) Obstacles to Revelation: God and the Reorientation of Human Reason (London: Continuum).Google Scholar
King, R. (2013) ‘Divine self-testimony and the knowledge of God’, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 74, 279295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maitzen, S. (2006) ‘Divine hiddenness and the demographics of theism’, Religious Studies, 42, 177191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mele, A. & Rawling, P. (2004) The Oxford Handbook of Rationality (Oxford: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
Schellenberg, J. (1993) Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason (Ithaca: Cornell University Press).Google Scholar
Schellenberg, J. (2005) ‘The hiddenness argument revisited (I)’, Religious Studies, 41, 201215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schellenberg, J. (2007) The Wisdom to Doubt: A Justification of Religious Skepticism (Ithaca: Cornell University Press).Google Scholar
Schellenberg, J. (2010) ‘The Hiddenness Problem and the Problem of Evil’, Faith and Philosophy, 27, 4560.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spilka, B. et al. (2003) The Psychology of Religion: An Empirical Approach (New York: Guilford).Google Scholar
van Inwagen, P. (2002) ‘What is the problem of the hiddenness of God?’, in Howard-Snyder, D. & Moser, P. (eds) Divine Hiddenness: New Essays (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 2432.Google Scholar