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Is God’s Hiddenness a Reason to Reject Him?

We have all had a time when we ask “Where are you God?” In this episode of Ready Reasons, Karlo explains how God has made it possible for us to believe in His existence even though he stays hidden.

 

Transcript:

We’ve all felt the problem of God’s hiddenness and have cried out, “Where are you God?” But unlike theists, atheists think this is a reason to reject belief in God, since if God existed and desired a relationship with us, he would at least ensure that we were all convinced that he exists. Obviously, that’s not the case, so he must not exist.

What can we say in response?

First, it’s true that God hasn’t immediately presented himself to our intellect to where nothing needs to be done on our part. But why is it necessary that God do this in order to be good?

From the Christian theist’s perspective, God has at least made it possible to know that he exists by providing sufficient evidence through nature and revelation. For example, there are many philosophical arguments that give good reasons to believe that God exists, some even demonstrating his existence—the five ways of St. Thomas Aquinas being the most popular.

There’s also good reason to believe that God has revealed himself through Jesus of Nazareth, that reason being Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

As to why God doesn’t immediately present himself to our intellect, I think the answer is found partially in the good of rational inquiry. Rational inquiry belongs to man’s unique mode of knowledge, and since God relates to man in accord with his nature, it is befitting God’s goodness to allow man to rationally inquire about his existence.

Of course, with this comes the possibility of error. But just because someone might not arrive at the right conclusion about God, it doesn’t follow that person is automatically damned. God doesn’t hold someone accountable for ignorance that he or she is not responsible for.

So, although God could make his existence more obvious, and give the answer in the back of the book, so to speak, the fact that he doesn’t is not a good reason to embrace atheism.

If you want to learn more about this topic and others like it, visit our website at catholic.com.

For Catholic Answers, I’m Karlo Broussard. Thanks for watching.

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