Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason (Cornell Studies in the Philosophy of Religion) - Softcover

Schellenberg, J. L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0801473462 ISBN 13: 9780801473463

Publisher: Cornell University Press, 2006

Synopsis

Also Available in Paperback with a New Preface

In this clearly written and tightly argued book, J. L. Schellenberg addresses a fundamental yet neglected religious problem. If there is a God, he asks, why is his existence not more obvious?

Traditionally, theists have claimed that God is hidden in order to account for the fact that the evidence of his existence is as weak as it is. Schellenberg maintains that, given the understanding of God's moral character to which theists are committed, this claim runs into serious difficulty. There are grounds, the author writes, for thinking that the perfectly loving God of theism would not be hidden, that such a God would put the fact of his existence beyond reasonable nonbelief. Since reasonable nonbelief occurs, Schellenberg argues, it follows that there is here an argument of considerable force for atheism.

In developing his claim, Schellenberg carefully examines the relevant views of such theists as Pascal, Butler, Kierkegaard, Hick, and others. He clarifies their suggestions concerning Divine hiddenness and shows how they fall short of providing a rebuttal for the argument he presents. That argument, he concludes, poses a serious challenge to theism, to which contemporary theists must respond.

The first full-length treatment of its topic, Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason will be of interest to anyone who has sought to reach a conclusion as to God's existence, and especially to theologians and philosophers of religion.

About this title

About the Author

J. L. Schellenberg is Professor of Philosophy at Mount Saint Vincent University and Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Graduate Studies at Dalhousie University. He is the author of Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason, Prolegomena to a Philosophy of Religion, The Wisdom to Doubt: A Justification of Religious Skepticism, and The Will to Imagine: A Justification of Skeptical Religion, all from Cornell.

Review

"This book is a splendid, illuminating study of Divine hiddenness and its implications for the question of whether the God of traditional theism actually exists."

(William L. Rowe, Department of Philosophy, Purdue University)

"Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason is a carefully argued, deeply insightful, and richly rewarding book. J. L. Schellenberg singlehandedly turned the problem of divine hiddenness into a major issue in contemporary philosophy of religion."

(Paul Draper, Purdue University)

"J. L. Schellenberg has developed the argument from hiddenness against the existence of God in a more thorough way than has ever been done before. I consider this book one of the six or seven most important books on the philosophy of religion published in the last fifteen years."

(Richard Swinburne, University of Oxford)

"A tightly argued, superbly crafted and religiously sensitive book.... Nobody interested in philosophical issues pertaining to our relation to God can afford to miss it."

"This book deserves to be seen as the definitive study to date of its subject. That subject is the implications of the lack of clear cut evidence and argument for the existence of God."

Edition details

• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0801473462
• ISBN 13: 9780801473463
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 232