Divine Hiddenness
June 30, 2026 DOI: 10.1017/9781009759694 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that divine hiddenness is necessary because only creatures, not the creator, can appear directly in experience, yet God can be intended through a deferred ostension that references a hidden cause via a manifest effect, clarified through the phenomenology of absent authors and the fulfillment of desire in giving thanks. |
Abstract
Why is God hidden? How might God be pointed out? In this timely study, Chad Engelland provides an original and compelling account of why God the creator is naturally hidden and how God can be intended. Drawing on phenomenology, philosophy of language, and medieval thought, he explores these questions, arguing that if the God in question is the ultimate source of all things, then hiddenness is necessary. Only a creature, rather than the creator, can appear directly in experience. Nonetheless, God the creator can be named as the ultimate source of all through a deferred ostension, which is a way of establishing the reference to a hidden cause through some manifest effect. Moreover, the deferred ostension can be clarified not only through the phenomenology of absent authors, which is a special case of the problem of other minds, but also via the fulfillment of desire in giving thanks for all.