Divine hiddenness deals with the apparent lack of clear and unmistakable evidence for God’s existence. But, this is a subjective issue. Some people see plenty of evidence for God’s existence, whereas others see no evidence at all. Furthermore, what may be sufficient evidence for one person might be rejected by another. When I discuss the existence of God with atheists, and they ask me to provide evidence for God’s existence, I ask them what would be sufficient evidence. Generally, they don’t want to respond to that question because, in my opinion, they want an excuse to deny God’s existence. But if someone wants evidence, he should provide some examples of what would be sufficient evidence since believing evidence is a subjective preference.
Evidence is a concept.
Evidence is an abstraction, a concept. Let me explain. Let’s say there are footprints in the mud under the window of a house in Florida. The window is broken, and shattered glass is on the inside. There are muddy footprints on the carpet, and the house has been ransacked. The front door is open, and the muddy footprints lead out the door. In this scenario, the footprints in the mud outside the window indicate that the perpetrator entered through that window. We would acknowledge it as being evidence because it fits the theory that the house was robbed and the perpetrator entered through that window.
However, if I told you that those footprints prove that I love my wife and we live thousands of miles away, you would probably be suspicious of such a claim. After all, how does a set of footprints thousands of miles away that deals with robbery demonstrate my love for my wife? It would not fit the claim. In other words, something becomes evidence to support something when a phenomenon fits a theory. If it does not fit the theory, it is not evidence. So, evidence is a concept, an abstraction. It has to fit another concept, namely a theory. So, this is why evidence is so subjective.
Okay, so the issue of evidence is related to divine hiddenness. It’s subjective. I don’t believe God is hidden. I see evidence for His existence in creation, in the beauty of a baby, how DNA has a super complex information structure, etc. I experience Him in my life. Though this experience is subjective, it comports with Scripture. As I said at the beginning of this article, what is evidence for one person is not for another.
Good and Evil and divine hiddenness
If God is not hidden, why doesn’t He stop evil? Some argue that since God does not stop evil, it is because He doesn’t exist, which would explain divine hiddenness.
First, if the occurrence of bad things means God does not exist, then does the occurrence of good things mean that God does exist? Generally, people only criticize God for the things they don’t like but don’t praise Him when things they do like happen. This attitude is, believe it or not, a form of evil, and God permits people to have such sinful and rebellious thoughts. So, the presence of evil and the presence of good must be looked at equally.
Second, what is the definition of evil by which critics argue that God is hidden because He does not exist? There must be a universal definition of evil to use it correctly when arguing for or against God’s existence. In Christian theology, bad happens because God has given people free will, along with its evil consequences. Furthermore, to what extent should God stop evil? Should he stop only the murderers? Or the rapists? Or what about the thought of murder and the idea of rape? Should those be prevented as well since they are evil? Where is the line drawn, and what justifies that line being where it is?
Divine Hiddenness
So, divine hiddenness is a philosophically difficult topic to address exhaustively. But God exists. If you know how to find Him, then He is not hidden. He is found in the revelation of Scripture, in the person of Christ, and so much more.
