From Nonresistant Nonbelief, by J. L. Schellenberg:
Other authors refer to nonresistant nonbelief as "blameless" disbelief or "inculpable" nonbelief. For example, this article says:
There are contemporary individuals who identify themselves as "nonresistant nonbelievers". For example, in a recent debate titled DEBATE: Theism vs Atheism | Jonathan McLatchie vs Alex O’Connor, Alex O'Connor said in his opening statement:
Question: From a Christian perspective, what are Alex and others who identify themselves as "nonresistant nonbelievers" doing wrong that is preventing them from finding God and attaining genuine belief in Him? What are plausible reasons for why God may appear hidden to them despite their alleged nonresistance?
One might fail to believe in God even while God is open to a belief-entailing personal relationship if one prevents oneself from believing in God through self-deceptive resistance of God. So the hiddenness argument needs to show that not all nonbelief is of this sort: that there is (or has in the past been) nonresistant nonbelief. Chapter 6 shows how this may be done. It does so by reference to humans in the early days of human evolution as well as those today who are in doubt over whether such a God exists after careful reflection on the idea. With this job completed, we can add a third premise: Some finite persons are or have been nonresistantly in a state of nonbelief in relation to the proposition that God exists. And from this premise together with the previous conclusion, a second conclusion can be drawn: No perfectly loving God exists.
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Other authors refer to nonresistant nonbelief as "blameless" disbelief or "inculpable" nonbelief. For example, this article says:
“Divine Hiddenness” in contemporary philosophy of religion may refer to the supposed fact that the existence of God is less than obvious, or to an argument against theism based on this supposed fact. The argument begins with the observation that many people of apparently good will and at least average intelligence have investigated the claims of theism, and yet still do not believe that God exists. Suppose, as many theists do, that the greatest human good is found in a personal relationship with God. Not believing that God exists seems an obvious barrier to such a relationship; but many of those who do not believe in God seem morally and epistemically blameless in their lack of belief. If the God of theism—an omniscient, omnipotent, and perfectly good personal being—did exist, then surely those who genuinely seek God would find God: an omnipotent God would be capable of providing clear self-revelation to those who genuinely seek, and a perfectly good God would want to provide such revelation. That so many of those who do seek or have sought God persist in unbelief is therefore itself evidence that God does not exist. Or so claims the advocate of the “argument from divine hiddenness.” Some philosophers have responded by argued that “the problem of divine hiddenness” is simply a special case of the more general problem of evil, adding nothing new to the case against the existence of God, nor any new challenge to extant responses to the problem of evil. For example, it could be that there is some outweighing good that can only be obtained by God allowing blameless disbelief to continue in a person’s life. Other philosophers have argued that a good God might provide only “purposive evidence”; i.e., evidence that may only be made available to one if it would accomplish God’s purpose in one’s life (e.g., that one would respond to the evidence not just by believing that God exists, but also by loving and obeying God).
There are contemporary individuals who identify themselves as "nonresistant nonbelievers". For example, in a recent debate titled DEBATE: Theism vs Atheism | Jonathan McLatchie vs Alex O’Connor, Alex O'Connor said in his opening statement:
[...] I'm going to be making the claim, specifically, that atheism or naturalism provides better account for 3 facts of our universe:
- The first being the hiddenness of God.
- The second being the geographical, statistical arrangement of religious belief.
- And the third will be the problem of gratuitous suffering and we'll see if we get time to finish it off.
Question: From a Christian perspective, what are Alex and others who identify themselves as "nonresistant nonbelievers" doing wrong that is preventing them from finding God and attaining genuine belief in Him? What are plausible reasons for why God may appear hidden to them despite their alleged nonresistance?