Deus absconditus
Deus absconditus ( Latin , "the hidden God ") describes the Christian concept of the fundamental unknowability of God. The name comes from the Bible , more precisely from the book of Isaiah : "Verily, you are a hidden God, you God of Israel, the Savior." (45.15 LUT )
This conception was particularly important for the thinking of Nikolaus von Kues , Blaise Pascal , Johannes Calvin and Martin Luther .
Martin Luther developed his views on the Deus absconditus in his Latin treatise De servo arbitrio from 1525. However, he had already hinted at the idea in his first psalm lectures and in the lecture on Romans ten years earlier.
The opposite term to Deus absconditus in Lutheran theology is Deus revelatus (revealed God).
literature
- Volker Leppin : Deus absconditus and Deus revelatus. Transformations of medieval theology in the doctrine of God from “De servo arbitrio”. In: Berlin Theological Journal . 22 (2005), ISSN 0724-6137 , pp. 55-69.
- Martin Luther: On the unfree will: that free will is nothing. Answer from D. Martin Luther to Erasmus von Rotterdam (= Martin Luther. Selected works. Supplementary series. Volume 1). German translation of De servo arbitrio, translated by Bruno Jordahn. Edited by Hans Heinrich Borcherdt , Georg Merz . 3. Edition. Munich 1963, OCLC 478638092 .
- Horst Beintker : Luther's experience and view of God. In: Helmar Junghans (ed.): Life and work of Martin Luther from 1526 to 1546. Commemoration for his 500th birthday. Volume 1. Berlin 1985 2 , DNB 860234541 , pp. 39-62 (identical pages to the 1st edition).