The Relation between the Issue of Divine Hiddenness and the Issue of Evil: A Study of John Schellenberg’s Viewpoint

One of the topics that has attracted the attention of philosophers and theologians is the “relation between the issue of hiddenness and the issue of evil.” The question is, “What is the relation between the issue of hiddenness and the issue of evil in terms of function and structure?” In other words, “Is the issue of hiddenness the same as the issue of evil?” In general, there are two main viewpoints on this issue: one reduces the issue of hiddenness to the issue of evil and considers it as a narrative or evidence of the issue of evil. The second viewpoint emphasizes the conceptual independence of the issue of hiddenness and evaluates it, at least conceptually, as distinct. John Schellenberg advocates the second view. In 1993 he formulated the argument of divine hiddenness as an atheistic argument, which is one of the most controversial issues in the contemporary philosophy of religion. In this paper, an attempt has been made to somehow show the strengths and weaknesses of each point of view by outlining and examining the possible relations between these two issues. Although Schellenberg’s arguments for proving the independence of the issue of hiddenness are somewhat significant, they are still insufficient and need further investigation.