The apophatic theme of the hidden God in Shestov’s and Derrida’s discussions on the gift
Journal of European Studies October 26, 2025 Marie Ogden
The article compares Lev Shestov and Jacques Derrida, two thinkers who responded to Nietzsche's 'God is dead' by rethinking Judeo-Christian traditions beyond finite concepts and knowledge. Both engaged with the 'paradox of the gift' and apophatic theology's theme of the hidden God, seeking a 'mystical experience' of unknowing and 'the possibility of the impossible.' They examined human relations to God in contemporary Western culture, but Shestov's legend of the Angel of Death's gift and Derrida's analysis of gift, revelation, and death pursued different ends. This is the first known comparative reading of their ideas, situating Shestov within postmodern discourse on the gift and apophatic theology.