Divine Hiddenness: A Christian Response

This is a long explanation for why there is divine hiddenness, and how it is understood in a Christian Worldview.

Sources:

The Last Word – Thomas Nagel

Collected Essays - Aldous Huxley

Divine Hiddenness – Paul Moser

Man or Rabbit – C.S. Lewis

[RottenDoctorGonzo]

I am now a Christian (former agnostic), and want to tell this channel that you played a part in my journey. You still do actually. My old YouTube name was RottenDoctorGonzo, and I commented previously, during my agnostic days. Since 2019 I'm a believer that Jesus died and rose again. Thanks for what you do. Keep up the excellent work, please. 🙏

[Jaryism]

This channel has been life changing to me, in many ways. Seriously. I don't really have a crazy story or testimony to tell, but I'm 35 now and after I graduated college a while back my parents had separated.. a lot of things became tough in my life and fell apart, my brother and I were raised protestant but he became a really die hard atheist and back in the late 2000's became a huge Hitchens/Harris follower, I tried to cling to believing based on my "limited to nothing" understanding of the Bible. I'm a Chemist and I remember the few conversations I'd have with my brother he'd crush me 'cause I had no philosophical arguments, no biblical scholarly evidence... and as far as Science he'd be like "you're a science guy by trade dude, how can you honestly believe this **** backed by NO evidence, I felt like you of all people should who understands the scientific method would get this".
over the next 10 years I'd basically become agnostic, in fact the only satisfaction I'd get from Christianity was looking up lil' factoids on "biblical inconsistencies" and odd fallacies to laugh over how stupid it was and justify why I hated it. Then like 5 years ago I started to get into ancient history and archaeology, I started reading Sumerian/Akkadian/Assyrian and Greek History and even started to get interested in the jewish historical side of the Bible, even reading the maps and stuff depicting the events in the Torah, but I never took it further that historical interest. I then stumbled upon The Bible Project on youtube and the summaries were really fast and cute, and gave me an interesting perspective that I hadn't seen before; ie. I clearing up the Book of Daniel, Ezra/Nehemiah, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Genesis, Revelations, Job etc. But the problem was it still felt like JUST THAT, silly stories like The Iliad/Odyssey that seemed unjustiable, none of this still really would hold ANY weight at all debating an Atheist and none of it gives proof to Creationism from any real worldly or scientific/philosophical perspective...

...Then half a year ago I was watching a video on Quantum Physics "Shrodinger's Cat" and I saw the "Emergent Universe" vid from IP. Watching the video... I'd never seen anything like it before or even remotely thought of science leading in the direction of creationism through "Idealism", how it plays out, it's absolutely genius that science was the very thing I thought was the ENEMY of my creationist views that I hid from in shame, the evidence now with the "superposition of particles" and probabilistic state of the universe bringing death to materialism and determinism seems so insane but it's true! The Teological fine tuning is an amazing argument. Watching his neurological "Search for the Soul" series shows that idealism is an overall better explanation for consciousness of the mind existing at a more fundamental and brain being emergent from that, it's actually genius. And the apologetic videos defending Christianity from "copy cat Gods" (Horus, Osiris, Mithras, etc) was amazing-- in fact that was a strong argument my brother used against was that most of it was stolen.

IP, Michael, I don't want to speak to boldly calling you a modern day profit but you almost feel like that to me, it's so hard being a believer or a defender of Christianity this age against the adversity (in fact Jesus even said in the gospel that there would be much suffering in his name at some distant time before the coming kingdom) and you've brought us powerful reasons to justify all the hate, it's made me believe again, the truth of our reality and what it is, and truth of Jesus Christ.

[jonathanfarrell]

Your postings are very well thought out and presented. As a philosophy major in college your ability to help others in sound thinking is important. Thanks for all your work.

[gleasonparker]

This channel keeps me sane especially in the sense of being exposed to so many competing religious ideas on YouTube. Thanks

[editorsphilosophynow]

Perhaps the most difficult thing in apologetics is generally to get non-Christian people in an atheist-saturated culture to listen to Christian arguments seriously and open-mindedly. This is a meta problem, since it is a problem independent of how good the arguments are (and there are many good arguments).

[fearlesswee]

I just wanted to thank you and your ministry for converting me from agnostic atheism to Christianity. You've done so much to help me mentally and physically I cannot even begin to demonstrate my gratitude. God bless you and everyone at your ministry. 🙏❤️

[hermannaxelschatte]

The conclusion to this clip sound a lot like how my conversion came to be. God allowed me to run amuck to my own desires and folly. He met me where is was and showed me my bankrupt intelligence with out him. It was humbling. Yet he gave me his unconditional love and renewed my mind heart and soul. I’m am saved! Praise him!
Thanks for all the work you pull for your channel.

[nimsy]

I don't know why, your videos dealing with the personal side of God always manages to make me cry. Your beautifully thought of analogies make it easier for me to understand God's enigmatic nature. Thanks IP.

[lostathenian]

Surely there is enough evidence that the earth is spherical, eh? And yet some say it is flat.

[annoyingdude]

damn IP, you should really put everything you made thus far into a book, in case youtube decides to go full internet atheist and delete your videos or something

[jimbojackson]

Wow. This was REALLY good. You put into words what I could not, and so much more. Thank you!

[InitialPC]

It's not a matter of "If He shows Himself to me I'll believe He exists!" I already believe He exists, I'm a Christian.
I just wish I could feel His presence...

[dennisalwine]

Another great video! Reminds me of how Dr. Frank Turek talks about the number of people who, when asked, "If Christianity were true, would you become a Christian?" respond with a defiant "No!"

[steffedy]

Wow, I always think your videos can't get better but they consistently do. You are by far the best apologist out there. Your rational, logical and philosophical arguments are so needed right now when believers are facing mockery in society on a daily basis. Thank you so much for what you do IP, you help strengthen the faith of believers and bring awareness of the awesomeness of God to those who are willing to question 🙏🏾

[alamargrethejensen]

I'm an agnostic and while I mostly find your content challenging and thought provoking, this one seems to be fairly weak.
While confirmation bias is real, and is something this particular prideful human is guilty of her fair share of, the same can obviously be said of believers. As it is comforting to think of a God loving you and reserving a place for you in heaven, it stands to consistency that you would do as you assert the atheist would and seek to believe such things in the face of evidence to the contrary.

Your story of the disfigured father is in now way analogous to God. God, being omnipotent, has it within his power to reveal himself to everyone in a way which does not scare or threaten them. This can in no way be a stone he cannot lift.
"God is not hidden because he does not care, but because he cares more than we could know." While this sounds comforting, it is merely unfalsifiable conjecture designed to reassure people in the face of the creeping doubts that surely must be accumulating.

[daniellowry]

The other thing I would mention about god revealing himself to people it almost always serves a function beyond the mere salvation of the individual. When God appeared to Moses it was not to inform Moses that he existed it was God calling moses to a task...same with the disciples and Paul. It was not simply about evidence.

[jmorra]

I am so touched. I thought I was going to find only reasonable arguments. These were there , as usual , but I also got teary . How do you do that?

You are saying what's true. That's how.

[darkovujcin]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:

01:31 🕵️ The problem of divine hiddenness questions why God doesn't provide sufficient evidence for everyone to believe in Him. Some argue that God's hiddenness prevents many from making a reasonable choice to follow Him or not.
03:32 💔 The argument assumes humans are so reasonable that they would believe in God if given enough evidence. However, psychological data shows that people often reject evidence that contradicts their desires, and beliefs are influenced by personal biases.
06:07 🤔 The subjective notion of "not enough evidence" is not enough to argue against the cumulative case for God's existence. The focus should be on finding a coherent worldview that best accounts for the data, rather than dismissing it based on personal preference.
10:05 🚪 Divine hiddenness may serve a purpose in the process of sanctification and moral development. God's hiddenness allows individuals to confront their selfishness, pride, and moral deficiencies, leading to a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God.
19:46 🙏 Divine hiddenness is not a result of God's indifference, but a merciful act to foster genuine love, humility, and perseverance in His disciples. God's timing and way of revealing Himself to each person are tailored to their individual needs and spiritual growth.

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[SavedSkeptic]

I’ve wrestled with this, but you’ve really helped me by laying this argument out so clearly. Thank you!

[yinkadavies]

My dear sir, you leave me speechless everytime
May The LORD GOD ALMIGHTY bless you, increase you with cunning wisdom continually, in the mighty name of JESUS CHRIST
I am truly grateful for this great explanation sir 👏🏾⚘❤🍷