Along with the problem of evil, the problem of divine hiddenness has become one of the most prominent arguments for atheism. ~ Philosopher Travis Dumsday, "C. S. Lewis on the Problem of Divine Hiddenness," International Journal for Philosophy of Religion
Interview with Kenneth Richard Samples, MA
Rocked by the suicide of his brother Frank, Kenneth Samples began to seek answers to deep questions. Frank had plummeted into despair after struggling with drug addiction and incarceration, and Ken started wondering, What do I have in my life that's really meaningful?
His spiritual curiosity had already been piqued when his sister gave him a copy of Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis. Later he had a vivid dream in which he encountered a Christlike figure with scars and bruises on his face. "When he spoke — I kid you not — it was like thunder," Samples told me. This resulted in an insatiable urge to study the Bible and attend church.
He became a committed Christian and immediately gravitated toward apologetics. He earned an undergraduate degree in history from Concordia University and then a master's degree in theological studies from Biola University.
After working alongside legendary countercult apologist Walter Martin, Samples now serves as senior research scholar for Reasons to Believe, a nonprofit that focuses on science and faith. For more than twenty years, he has taught at Biola and lectured at universities around the country. His books include Without a Doubt: Answering the 20 Toughest Faith Questions and Christianity Cross-Examined: Is It Rational, Relevant, and Good?
Seated at a desk and wearing his gray hair cut short, Samples spoke in a sincere tone with an even cadence, unruffled by questions that might challenge his faith. After all, there are virtually no objections to Christianity that he hasn't addressed over his career.
God's Silence through the Centuries
I began by referencing several theists through history who struggled with the apparent silence of God and yet didn't abandon their faith. For example, the Hebrew psalmist cried out,
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?... I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.1
The prophet Isaiah wrote,
Truly You are a God who has been hiding Himself.2
"An important component of ancient Israel's worship was the engagement of divine absence," said Old Testament scholar Joel Burnett.3 He added that in ancient Israel, "the sense of divine absence [and the sorrow and suffering that goes along with it] is regarded as a normal part of human experience."4 Nevertheless, observed Michael Rea of the University of Notre Dame, none of the biblical texts that wrestle with divine silence ever question the reality of God.5
I turned to Samples. "Why do you think that many theists have struggled with the so-called hiddenness of God and yet never jettisoned their belief in Him?" I asked.
"I would start by defining faith — it's a confident trust in a reliable source," he began. "That means faith is not trust in any source or every source, but we put our faith in something that's reliable. By that definition, faith has a rational component to it." He paused, then continued. "These individuals put their trust in the one true God, someone they determined to be reliable and trustworthy. It was a faith that made sense and was fully rational. Of course, as C. S. Lewis said, you have to feed your faith.6 I believe they did that and ended up building a robust and resilient faith that could withstand the times when they felt perplexed by the seeming absence of God."
"How did they feed their faith?"
"Through regular prayer, the study of Scripture, being part of a faith community, for example. And when you invest in your faith that way, it can sustain you even during those times when God seems distant.
"Sometimes when I talk to people who have walked away from faith, I ask them about their prayer life and their connection to a church, and there isn't anything there," he added. "Without that firm foundation, a person's faith can crumble during times when God seems particularly distant. I know in my own life that when God appears hidden, it's often at a time when I'm at a spiritual low."
A quote by Corrie ten Boom sprang to mind:
"When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away your ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer."7
Her faith remained intact despite her painful circumstances during World War II because she knew that God could ultimately be trusted.
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