A Comparison between Suhrawardi and Schellenberg on Divine Hiddenness

One of the new and famous arguments in denying the existence of God is the Divine hiddenness argument. Based on this argument that was first proposed by John Schellenberg, a contemporary Canadian philosopher, God’s hiddenness is in conflict with his attribute of perfectly loving. Considering this conflict, defenders of the hiddenness argument have denied the existence of God. By adopting a new approach to the issues of being and knowledge, Shihab al-Din Suhrawardi (1154–1191) has presented a different point of view. Suhrawardi calls God the Light of all lights. In his opinion, God’s essence is nothing but his light, and light is that which is manifest (Ẓāhir). Therefore, it is necessary that God’s essence be also manifest. Of course, Suhrawardi also has paid attention to the issue of divine hiddenness and its relationship with the human soul. In Suhrawardi's view, divine hiddenness is due to man's lack of attention to the origin of the universe (i.e. the Light of all lights) and his neglect of his own existential (luminous) aspect. Nevertheless, in Schellenberg's view, God itself is the cause of divine hiddenness, and man has less responsibility. While comparing the viewpoints of Suhrawardi and Schellenberg on divine hiddenness, this article, using a descriptive-analytical method, tries to explain how God’s essence can be hidden while it is manifest, but this hiddenness should not return to his essence.