Philippine E-Journals

THE PROBLEM OF DIVINE HIDDENNESS: A WOJTYLIAN RESPONSE

Ian Anthony Davatos

 

Abstract:

Alongside the problem of evil, a new problem for theism has emerged: the problem of divine hiddenness. The structure of the problem is straightforward: it hinges on the idea that God’s existence is not obvious to many people, believers, and nonbelievers alike. But if God is loving, God would make sure that everybody would have an immediate knowledge of His existence. However, there are people to whom God’s existence is not immediate; in fact, there are nonbelievers who can rationally doubt God’s existence. Thus, if there are indeed such people, then God does not exist. While Karol Wojtyla, also known as Saint John Paul II, has no sustained work that delves deeply into addressing the problem, some of his ideas may be developed to respond to it. In this paper, I formulate a Wojtylian response to the problem, as can be gleaned in Wojtyla’s view about the nature and extent of faith and its relationship to reason. I also advance two challenges, inspired by Wojtyla, to a core assumption of Schellenberg’s argument that I argue are impossible to be met without the need for religious faith. Then, I conclude by noting the implications of God’s self-testimony in Jesus to the problem of divine hiddenness.