The Greatest Argument Against God

Summary

William Lane Craig identifies what he considers the greatest argument against God — not the problem of evil in its classic form, but the hiddenness of God. Why doesn't God make his existence more obvious? Craig argues that God's purpose is not merely to produce belief in his existence but to draw people into an eternal love relationship, and that a more dramatic display of evidence would not necessarily bring more people to freely love and know him.

Key Points

• The problem of evil has evolved among contemporary philosophers into the problem of divine hiddenness — the question of why God does not make his existence more unmistakable
• God could have inscribed "Made by God" on every atom or placed a neon cross in the sky reading "Jesus saves" — but he has not done so
• Craig's central response: God's goal is not merely to get people to believe he exists — even the demons believe that — but to build an eternal love relationship with human persons
• It is not at all improbable that in a world where God made himself more evident, no more people would freely come to love and know him than in the actual world
• A dramatic divine demonstration might even cause people to chafe at God's effrontery rather than draw them closer
• God will not allow anyone to fail to find salvation because of lack of evidence — he provides sufficient evidence to every sincere inquirer

Notable Quotes

"God's purpose is not merely to get people to believe that he exists — even the demons believe that. His purpose is to build an eternal love relationship with you." — William Lane Craig

"It's not at all improbable that in a world of free persons where God made his existence more evident, no more people would come to love and know him than in the actual world." — William Lane Craig