Divine Hiddenness and Cognitive States
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47850/RL.2023.4.1.29-40Keywords:
divine hiddenness, Schellenberg, personal relationships, cognitive states, propositional attitudes.Abstract
The paper argues that the success of the atheistic Hiddenness argument and its resilience to the criticisms is founded on the common implicit assumption that a personal relationship with God requires a certain cognitive state. According to the Argument, the relationship with God requires the belief that God exists. The critics of the Argument claim that the relationship requires an alternative cognitive state, e.g., faith or acceptance of God's existence or belief in the existence of another ultimate reality. All of these suggestions, however, have been met with convincing counterarguments. I assume that a successful refutation of the Hiddenness argument can be achieved by dismissing the cognitivist condition for the relationship with God.
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