Editing Argument from nonbelief (section)

==Historical references to the problem of divine hiddenness==
The theme of divine hiddenness, silence or darkness has a long history in Judeo-Christian and Islamic theology.<ref name="hs-ne">{{Cite book |last=Howard-Snyder |first=Daniel |author2=Paul K. Moser |year=2001 |chapter=Introduction: Divine Hiddenness |chapter-url=http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~howardd/hiddennessintro.html |title=Divine Hiddenness: New Essays |isbn=0-521-00610-4 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York}} The introductory section draws heavily on this source for its exposition of material.</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Examining Schellenberg's Hiddenness Argument|author= Veronika Wiedner|year=2020|quote=The hiddenness of God is a topic evincing a rich tradition in the monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.}}</ref> The roots of the Judeo-Christian description of God as hidden are in the Bible, for example in the [[Psalms]], "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?....I cry by day, but you do not answer....",<ref>{{bibleverse-lb||Psalms|22:1–2|NRSV}}</ref> and in Isaiah: "Truly you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior."<ref>{{bibleverse-lb||Isaiah|45:15|NRSV}}</ref>

One of the first philosophers to write on the theme of divine hiddenness was [[Anselm of Canterbury]], who in his ''[[Proslogion]]'' links it to an existential or spiritual concern:
{{blockquote|I have never seen thee, O Lord my God; I do not know thy form. What, O most high Lord, shall this man do, an exile far from thee? What shall thy servant do, anxious in his love of thee, and cast out afar from thy face? He pants to see thee, and thy face is too far from him. He longs to come to thee, and thy dwelling place is inaccessible. He is eager to find thee, and knows not thy place. He desires to seek thee, and does not know thy face. Lord, thou art my God, and thou art my Lord, yet never have I seen thee. It is thou that hast made me, and hast made me anew, and hast bestowed upon me all the blessings I enjoy; and not yet do I know thee. Finally, I was created to see thee and not yet have I done that for which I was made.<ref name="hs-ne" />}}

Daniel Howard-Snyder and Paul Moser, in the introduction to a volume of papers on the idea of divine hiddenness as evidence against theism, cite [[Nietzsche]]'s question as anticipating this contemporary theme: "a god who is all-knowing and all-powerful and who does not even make sure his creatures understand his intentions—could that be a god of goodness?"<ref name="hs-ne" />