Divine hiddenness and the demographics of theism
نویسنده
چکیده
According to the much-discussed argument from divine hiddenness, God’s existence is disconfirmed by the fact that not everyone believes in God. The argument has provoked an impressive range of theistic replies, but none has overcome – or, I suggest, could overcome – the challenge posed by the uneven distribution of theistic belief around the world, a phenomenon for which naturalistic explanations seem more promising. The ‘demographics of theism’ confound any explanation of why non-belief is always blameworthy or of why God allows blameless non-belief. They also cast doubt on the existence of a sensus divinitatis : the awareness of God that Reformed epistemologists claim is innate in all normal human beings. Finally, the demographics make the argument from divine hiddenness in some ways a better atheological argument than the more familiar argument from evil. The argument from divine hiddenness According to the argument from divine hiddenness (ADH), God’s existence is disconfirmed by the fact that not everyone believes in God. Over the years the argument has provoked an impressive range of theistic replies, and the topic has become the subject of a lively current debate. However, none of these replies has overcome – or, I suggest, could overcome – the challenge posed by the uneven distribution of theistic belief around the world, a phenomenon for which naturalistic explanations seem more promising. The ‘demographics of theism’ not only confound theistic explanations of non-belief in God; they also cast doubt on the existence of a sensus divinitatis, the awareness of God that theologians in the Reformed tradition claim is innate in all normal human beings. Furthermore, these facts make ADH in some ways a better atheological argument than the more familiar argument from evil. ADH comes in two main versions, each of which I’ll describe in just enough detail for present purposes. The first version starts with the premise that the Religious Studies 42, 177–191 f 2006 Cambridge University Press doi:10.1017/S0034412506008274 Printed in the United Kingdom
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