Can God Be Hidden and Evident at the Same Time? Some Kierkegaardian Reflections

Abstract

has argued that a loving God would make his reality evident to all who want to have a relation with God, but that God seems hidden to many such people. One response to this claim, suggested by Kierkegaard, is that God's reality is not really hidden to anyone except those who blind themselves to God's reality. This might seem to imply that all atheism is culpable, but it does not, since some of Kierkegaard's claims imply that those who may think of themselves as atheists may actually have an awareness of God's reality. This does not, however, imply that having a propositional understanding of God is unimportant; "thin theism" may have little or no value, but the kind of understanding of God that comes from knowing God as God does have great worth. in question is one that Kierkegaard decided not to endorse. However, it is plausible to see the deletion of the passage as a decision Kierkegaard made at the same time that he decided to remove his own name from this book

On Shared Hopes for (Mashup) Philosophy of Religion: A Reply to Trakakis

“…It is important to realize that while, as finite, embodied, human beings , we can't say everything about God, as Christians (or Jews, or Muslims, etc .) we should affirm that we can say something . Erring too far in the one direction leads to arrogance, but erring too far in the other direction leads to vacuity; both are extremes that ought to be avoided.…”

Neither Irrationalist Nor Apologist: Revisiting Faith and Reason in Kierkegaard

“…In fact, Evans claims that reason can both support faith and be transformed by it. For one who attains faith’s “spiritual sensitivity” (or the proper “eyes to see or ears to hear”), even belief in something as divisive and seemingly far‐fetched as God’s existence can be rational and justified (Evans 1998, 90; 2006b, 243). 2 Evans is opposed by the likes of Hannay (1982, 106‐8), Pojman (1984, 24, 100‐2, 136), Garelick (1965, 28‐9), Penelhum (1983, 75‐84, 114‐5), and MacIntyre (1984, 39‐47), just to name a few.…”

“…7 7 Views that have been influenced at key points by the work of famed philosopher of religion and modern‐day Christian apologist, Alvin Plantinga (e.g. Evans 1992, 111‐2, 180‐1; 1998, 41‐7; 2006b, 243). …”

Divine hiddenness as divine mercy

“…2.See for instance Aijaz and Weidler (2007), Dumsday (2010a; 2010b), Evans (2006), Henry (2001; 2008), Howard-Snyder (1996), McKim (2001), Moser (2008), Murray (2002), Oakes (2008), Poston and Dougherty (2007), Rea (2009), Swinburne (1998; 2004), van Inwagen (2006), and Tucker (2008). …”