The Theology of Hiddenness: J. L. Schellenberg, Divine Hiddenness, and the Role of Theology

• Authors: Marek Dobrzeniecki , Derek King

Title variants

PL

The Theology of Hiddenness: J. L. Schellenberg, Divine Hiddenness, and the Role of Theology

• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The paper explores Pascal’s idea according to which the teachings of the Church assume the hiddenness of God, and, hence, there is nothing surprising in the fact of the occurrence of nonresistant nonbelief. In order to show it the paper invokes the doctrines of the Incarnation, the Church as the Body of Christ, and the Original Sin. The first one indicates that there could be greater than nonbelief obstacle in forming interpersonal bonds with God, namely the ontological chasm between him and human persons. The assumption of the human nature by the Son of God could be seen as a cure for this problem. The doctrine of the Church shows it as an end in itself, and in order for the Church to have meaning and to exist there has to be nonbelief in the world. Finally, the dogma of the Original Sin shows that there is no category of purely nonresistant nonbelief. The paper also addresses Schellenberg’s “accommodationist strategy” from the perspective of the Christian theology and in the last part it investigates what should be the influence of the fact of the hiddenness on theology’s take on the divine revelation.

PL

Boże ukrycie i rola teologii Artykuł zgłębia ideę Pascala, zgodnie z którą nauczanie Kościoła zakłada ukrycie Boga, a zatem nie ma nic dziwnego w fakcie występowania niewiary bez oporu. Aby to pokazać, artykuł przywołuje doktryny Wcielenia, Kościoła jako Ciała Chrystusa i grzechu pierworodnego. Pierwsza wskazuje, że może istnieć większa niż niewiara przeszkoda w tworzeniu więzi międzyludzkich z Bogiem, a mianowicie ontologiczna przepaść między Nim a osobami ludzkimi. Przyjęcie natury ludzkiej przez Syna Bożego może być postrzegane jako lekarstwo na ten problem. Doktryna o Kościele ukazuje go jako cel sam w sobie, z kolei aby Kościół miał sens, musi istnieć niewiara na świecie. Wreszcie dogmat o grzechu pierworodnym pokazuje, że kategoria całkowicie nieopornej niewiary jest pusta. Artykuł odnosi się również do „strategii dostosowawczej” Schellenberga z perspektywy teologii chrześcijańskiej, a w ostatniej części bada, jaki powinien być wpływ faktu ukrytości na teologiczne ujęcie Bożego Objawienia.

Keywords

EN

divine hiddenness; hiddenness argument; incarnation; church; original sin; accommodation strategy

PL

Boże ukrycie; argument z ukrycia; wcielenie; Kościół; grzech pierworodny; strategia dostosowawcza; Boże ukrycie; argument z ukrycia; wcielenie; Kościół; grzech pierworodny; strategia dostosowawcza

• Publisher: Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II. Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL
• Journal: Roczniki Filozoficzne
• Year: 2021
• Volume: 69
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 105-122

Dates

published

2021-09-24

Contributors

author

Marek Dobrzeniecki

• Catholic Academy in Warsaw, Collegium Joanneum, Poland

• https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1992-3222

author

Derek King

• University of St Andrews, USA

• https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3381-2799

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Identifiers

DOI

10.18290/rf21693-7