Hard Problem of Theism

The Problem of Divine Hiddenness: If a perfectly loving, omnipotent God exists who desires a relationship with all people, why is God's existence not universally obvious and undeniable? The ambiguity of the world, the prevalence of non-belief among sincere seekers, and the reliance on faith (which implies a lack of direct knowledge) seem inconsistent with a loving deity's goals. A hidden God might be plausible for a deistic watchmaker, but for a personal, intervening God of love, the hiddenness is paradoxical. It suggests either God is not all-powerful (can't reveal clearly), not all-loving (doesn't want to), or we are misunderstanding the divine nature entirely.

Example: A child dies praying for a miracle that never comes. A theologian says, "God's ways are mysterious." The grieving parent asks, "Why make the way of basic recognition so mysterious first?" If a human parent hid from their lost, crying child to "test their love," we'd call it cruelty. The hard problem: Theistic explanations for hiddenness (e.g., to preserve free will, to build character) seem grossly disproportionate to the resulting oceans of suffering, doubt, and misdirected worship. A God who could end all sincere existential confusion with a wink chooses instead a world where most of humanity worships conflicting, man-made images of Him. Hard Problem of Theism.

by Enkigal January 24, 2026