Next up is the Argument from Divine Hiddenness.
Now, there are several different versions of this argument, but let's focus on one common construction:
Premise 1: If a perfectly loving God exists, then God would always be open to a personal relationship with any finite person.
The idea here is that love is inherently relational. Love isn’t just about being benevolent; it’s about seeking union and involvement with the beloved, simply for their sake. A perfectly loving God would therefore always be open to having a personal relationship with any of His creations.
Premise 2: If God is always open to a personal relationship with any finite person, there should be no cases of "non-resistant non-belief" in God.
Non-resistant non-belief refers to people who don’t believe in God, but not because of any willful or rebellious resistance.
They're open to the idea, yet they don't believe simply because they don’t see enough reason or evidence for it.
The logic is that for any meaningful relationship, one party has to at least acknowledge the other’s existence.
If God truly wanted a relationship with these non-believers, He would ensure that they knew He existed.
Premise 3: But, there are cases of non-resistant non-belief.
Many people are open to belief in God, but they just don't see any convincing reason to believe He exists.
They don’t resist God—He simply doesn’t seem present to them.
Given these premises, the conclusion follows:
If there is a perfectly loving God, He would always be open to a relationship with finite persons, and thus, there would be no non-resistant non-believers.
But since non-resistant non-believers exist, it seems that no perfectly loving God exists.
Now, of course, there are many responses to this argument. Some claim that God has good reasons to remain hidden.
Others question whether non-resistant non-belief even exists.
But at its core, the Argument from Divine Hiddenness presents a real challenge, particularly for those who feel that God’s absence in their lives is more pronounced than His presence.
Many people, especially those who aren't steeped in philosophical debate, say things like, "I just don’t feel Him there" or "I’ve never seen any evidence."
It’s not always about rejecting God—sometimes, it's just a sense of absence.
And that’s why this argument resonates deeply with many, maybe even more so than the Problem of Evil.
It's a modern challenge to the idea of a loving God that continues to provoke thought and debate.
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