Hidden Divinity and Religious Belief
New Perspectives

This collection of new essays is a groundbreaking examination of divine hiddenness from the perspectives of different faiths.

Adam Green (Edited by), Eleonore Stump (Edited by)

9781107078130, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 5 February 2016

306 pages, 1 b/w illus.
23.6 x 16 x 2.3 cm, 0.6 kg

'This bold collection offers a satisfying display of the plurality of perspectives revolving around the topic … On the whole, the collection is written with philosophical precision expressing the potential breadth of thought blooming and intertwined in philosophy of religion. It is a must-read for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and professional philosophers and theologians.' Christophe Porot, Religious Studies Review

This collection of new essays written by an international team of scholars is a groundbreaking examination of the problem of divine hiddenness, one of the most dynamic areas in current philosophy of religion. Together, the essays constitute a wide-ranging dialogue on the problem. They balance atheistic and theistic standpoints, and they bring to bear not only on the standard philosophical perspectives but also on insights from Jewish, Muslim, and Eastern Orthodox traditions. The apophatic and the mystical are well-represented too. As a result, the volume throws fresh light on this familiar but important topic in the philosophy of religion. In the process, the volume incorporates contemporary work in epistemology, philosophy of mind and philosophy of language. For all these reasons, this book will be of great interest to researchers and advanced students in philosophy of religion and theology.

Introduction
Part I. The Argument from God's Hiddenness against God's Existence: 1. Divine hiddenness and human philosophy J. L. Schellenberg
Part II. God's Hiddenness: Overlooked Issues: 2. The semantic problem of hiddenness Meghan Sullivan
3. Divine hiddenness and the cognitive science of religion Helen De Cruz
Part III. God's Hiddenness: Faith and Skepticism: 4. Divine hiddenness and self-sacrifice Paul K. Moser
5. Journeying in perplexity Evan Fales
Part IV. Reasons for Hiddenness and Unbelief: 6. No-fault atheism John Greco
7. Divine openness and creaturely non-resistant non-belief Daniel Howard-Snyder
8. Hiddenness and the epistemology of attachment Adam Green
Part V. God's Hiddenness and God's Nature in the Major Monotheisms: 9. The hiddenness of 'divine hiddenness': divine love in medieval Islamic lands Jon McGinnis
10. The hidden God of the Jews: Hegel, Reb Nachman, and the Aqedah Jerome Gellman
11. The hidden divinity and what it reveals N. N. Trakakis
12. Hiddenness and transcendence Michael C. Rea
Part VI. God's Hiddenness: Suffering and Union with God: 13. Divine hiddenness or dark intimacy?: How John of the Cross dissolves a contemporary philosophical dilemma Sarah Coakley
14. Silence, evil and Sh?saku End? Yujin Nagasawa
15. Lyric theodicy: Gerard Manley Hopkins and the problem of existential hiddenness Ian DeWeese-Boyd
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Cognition & cognitive psychology [JMR], Psychology [JM], Theology [HRLB], Philosophy of religion [HRAB], Religion & beliefs [HR], Philosophy of mind [HPM], Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge [HPK], Western philosophy, from c 1900 - [HPCF], Philosophy [HP], Philosophy of language [CFA]