Alex O'Connor on Divine hiddenness
O'Connor argues that a loving God would ensure no reasonable nonbelief exists, yet it plainly does.
O'Connor has given the argument from divine hiddenness serious philosophical attention, drawing on the work of J.L. Schellenberg. The argument runs: if a perfectly loving God exists, he would ensure that everyone capable of a relationship with him is in a position to form one. A necessary condition for such a relationship is belief that God exists. Yet many people are nonbelievers through no fault of their own — they have honestly sought God and found nothing. Therefore, a perfectly loving God does not exist.
O'Connor finds this argument compelling because it targets not the abstract concept of God but the specific God of Christianity — one who supposedly desires a personal relationship with every human being. If that God exists, reasonable nonbelief is inexplicable. The existence of sincere, thoughtful atheists who have earnestly sought God and found nothing is, on O'Connor's view, strong evidence against the Christian God specifically.
He distinguishes this from the problem of evil: hiddenness is not about suffering but about epistemic access. Even if all suffering were explained, the question would remain — why does God hide from those who sincerely seek him?
“If God wanted a relationship with me, he would at minimum make his existence known to me. I have looked. He has not.”