God is not hidden from us

spiritualdirections:

I just got back from the American Catholic Philosophical Association national meeting in San Diego. In one of the plenary sessions, Meghan Sullivan from Notre Dame kept referring to “the problem of divine hiddenness”, which is a theme in the philosophy of religion that is mostly advanced by atheists against the existence of God, and which is most hotly contested by protestant philosophers of religion. 

However, the Church in the First Vatican Council dogmatically declared that God is not hidden from us:

Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith Dei Filius, Canon 2. On revelation:

1. If anyone says that the one, true God, our Creator and Lord, cannot be known with certainty from the things that have been made, by the natural light of human reason: let him be anathema.

Of course, St. Paul says the same thing in Romans 1:18ff:

“The wrath of God is indeed being revealed from heaven against every impiety and wickedness of those who suppress the truth by their wickedness. For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them. Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made. As a result, they have no excuse; for although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened. While claiming to be wise, they became fools…”

So… it seems like it’s a false problem. (As I’ve argued before:  http://spiritualdirections.tumblr.com/post/161856929073/gods-ineffective-revelation.)

Rather than accepting the premise that God is hidden, Catholics should challenge those making this assertion to prove that He is. They can’t do that. (And if you really want a fun argument, go all St. Paul on your interlocuter and tell him that the reason he doesn’t believe in God is his own personal wickedness. Force him to defend his own personal holiness despite his unbelief, and then just giggle.)