Divine Hiddenness and Evidence for God
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:30th Sep '25
£77.00
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Along with the problem of evil, divine hiddenness presents one of the most important philosophical challenges to religious belief. Theists and nontheists alike grapple with the question of why God's existence isn't more obvious. The aim of this book is to formulate the problem of divine hiddenness as an evidential argument. A central theme is that we can make progress understanding the epistemic import of divine hiddenness if we model the hiddenness argument using Bayesian methods. One advantage to using evidential tools to frame the topic is that theists can agree with some of the core ideas that motivate interest in the topic: such as, that it is surprising that God's existence is not more obvious than it is. This is a thought with which theists can agree-without being pressured into atheism. The approach allows individuals on both sides of the issue to find more common ground. Divine Hiddenness and Evidence for God advances discussion on several fronts. It uncovers various difficulties that arise in selecting which hiddenness facts to focus on and relocates disagreement to evaluation of the significance of the evidence. A central hiddenness fact concerns the distribution of theistic belief. One result of examining this data in the context of an evidential argument from hiddenness is that some facts which are typically advanced as challenges to theism-such as that there is non-belief-can turn out to have a different impact when we look at more robust data. The book as a whole raises an important methodological question: can there be evidence against God for theists? While some theists have taken a hard stance against claims that anything is evidence against God, this work suggest theists are better off conceding that some phenomena are evidence against God, and that theists should be open to the possibility that divine hiddenness is among such evidence.
Charity Anderson's work on the hiddenness of God is some of the best I've ever read. Reframing the problem of divine hiddenness as an evidential problem and then exploring the consequences of doing so, this book breaks new ground and brings sophisticated epistemological reasoning to bear on one of the most important problems in the philosophy of religion. It is a must-read for anyone working on the problem of divine hiddenness. * Michael Rea, Rev. John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame *
Charity Anderson's work on the hiddenness of God is some of the best I've ever read. Reframing the problem of divine hiddenness as an evidential problem and then exploring the consequences of doing so, this book breaks new ground and brings sophisticated epistemological reasoning to bear on one of the most important problems in the philosophy of religion. It is a must-read for anyone working on the problem of divine hiddenness. * Michael Rea, Rev. John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy, Notre Dame *
Charity Anderson's new book argues that discussion of divine hiddenness should turn in new directions- to probabilistic or Bayesian hiddenness arguments against God's existence, and to different "hiddenness facts" than have dominated the debate so far. She has persuaded me of these things, and I think she'll persuade you too. The book also provides useful tools for beginning the new discussions and a wealth of good thoughts on how they should go. It's a must-read for people interested in divine hiddenness. * Brian Leftow, Rutgers *
Among recent developments in the philosophy of religion, none is more striking than the emergence of a large and sophisticated literature on the plausibility of the claim that if God were to exist, then God's existence would be more evident. This is in short the argument for atheism from divine 'hiddenness'. Charity Anderson's text revolutionizes our understanding of this argument, by introducing a new account of the hiddenness facts, and a new, probabilistic reading of the significance of those facts. Her book marks a major advance in this important debate, and will give new momentum and new direction to further discussion of the bearing of hiddenness on the rationality of theistic belief. * Mark Wynn, Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion, Oxford University *
Divine hiddenness is a fundamental theological and philosophical conundrum. Why is God's hand not more evident in the world if it is indeed the product of a Creator? Professor Anderson offers a new perspective that reframes this longstanding problem. There are, she says, a family of hiddenness arguments that we should treat as evidential rather than deductive in nature. The vital question is how we evaluate this evidence. She concludes that although it is strange that the Deity is not more obviously present, this is not necessarily a reason to reject theism. Written in clear and accessible prose that will commend itself to a wide readership, Divine Hiddenness and Evidence for God is an incisive intervention on a nodal issue in philosophical theology. * Oliver Crisp, Professor of Analytic Theology, University of St Andrews *
ISBN: 9780198973072
Dimensions: 240mm x 163mm x 15mm
Weight: 376g
144 pages