Deus absconditus

The hidden God (Latin: Deus absconditus) refers to the Christian idea of the fundamental unknowability of the essence of God. The name comes from the Bible, specifically from the book of Isaiah: "Indeed, you are a hidden God, you God of Israel, the Savior." (45:15). This concept was particularly important for the thinking of Nicholas of Cusa, Blaise Pascal, John Calvin and Martin Luther.

Luther unfolded his views on Deus absconditus in his Latin work De servo arbitrio in 1525. But he had already hinted at this idea in his lectures on the Psalms and in his lecture on Romans ten years earlier. The opposite of Deus absconditus in Lutheran theology is Deus revelatus (the revealed God).

See also

• Deus otiosus
• The revealed God

Bibliography

• Volker Leppin: Deus absconditus und Deus revelatus. Transformationen mittelalterlicher Theologie in der Gotteslehre von "De servo arbitrio"; in: Berliner Theologische Zeitschrift 22 (2005), S. 55–69; ISSN 0724-6137
• Martin Luther: Vom unfreien Willen: dass der freie Wille nichts sei. Antwort D. Martin Luthers an Erasmus von Rotterdam; deutsche Übersetzung von De servo arbitrio, übersetzt von Bruno Jordahn, hrsg. v. Georg Merz; München 1983
• Horst Beintker: Luthers Gotteserfahrung und Gottesanschauung; in: Leben und Werk Martin Luthers von 1526 bis 1546 – Festgabe zu seinem 500. Geburtstag, Band 1; Berlin 1985²; S. 39–62