Deus revelatus (Latin: "revealed god") refers to the Christian theological concept coined by Martin Luther which affirms that the ultimate self-revelation of God relies on his hiddenness.àIt is the particular focus of LutherâÂÂs work the Heidelberg Theses of 1518, presented during the Heidelberg disputation of 1518. In Christian theology, God is presented as revealed or Deus revelatus through the suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross. Debate of the term is found in the field of philosophy of religion, where it is contested among philosophers such as J. L. Schellenberg. The term is usually distinguished from Luther's concept of Deus absconditus, which affirms the fundamental unknowability of the essence of God. However, Luther proposed that God is a revelation who uses the fog to obscure himself. This distinction which permeates his theology has been the subject of wide interpretation, leading to controversy between theologians who believe the terms to be either antithetical or identical.àThese two conflicting strands of thought present the main problem when interpreting LutherâÂÂs doctrine of the Revealed God. In recent years the term has been used to inform modern analysis of religious themes such as evolution.
The conception of Luther's Revealed God came about through his own personal struggles with grasping assurance of God's grace, which he confirmed by looking to the Cross of Christ. The concept of the incomprehensibility of God was first introduced by Luther in his Lectures on The Psalms. àThe theology of âÂÂdeus revelatusâ originated to address the concern that if a God exists, he has not made his existence sufficiently clear.àThe term âÂÂRevealed Godâ can be found in LutherâÂÂs works, Heidelberg Theses (1518) and On the Bondage of the Will (1525).àLutherâÂÂs theology was permeated by the theology of the cross, which led to the conception of both the Revealed God (deus revelatus) and the hidden God (deus absconditus).àIn the Heidelberg Thesis, Luther asserts the view of âÂÂdeus revelatus, a living God who suffered on a cross, and in On the Bondage of the Will Luther depicts the âÂÂdeus absconditusâÂÂ, a God of hidden majesty. The Christian concept of God depicts an absolute being who is righteous in himself, thereby becoming a threat to unrighteous humans. Therefore, He must become 'the God who seeks to be justified by the unrighteous in his words, a great vulnerability in which God stoops low in order to give sinners faith'.
The concept of the Revealed God was later referred to by Paulson as 'The Preached God'. The Revealed God is one being and three persons who 'actively wants to be foundâÂÂin Christ, and him crucifiedâÂÂjustified in his words'. Luther thus proposed that GodâÂÂs ultimate self revelation is in hiddenness, âÂÂnamely, in weakness, in folly, in the incarnation and on the crossâÂÂ.àThe divine majesty and glory of God is âÂÂshame and humiliationâ as he âÂÂbrings life by means of death, whose suffering leads to resurrectionâÂÂ, thus there becomes a paradox whereby God is hidden in His self-revelation.àGod is hidden âÂÂin the suffering, humility and shame of the crossâ and ones suffering on Earth, however through faith sinners can recognise the God of love and mercy revealed in Christ. Such a revelation which leads to justification nevertheless requires a preacher, thus 'The Holy Spirit sends such preachers so that grace is not so deeply hidden that we never find Christ hidden in the repulsive cross'. Because of this, LutherâÂÂs theology states that any individual outside of a Christian community of faith do not experience his self-revelation and do not know his attitude towards them.
Luther believed that the visible aspects of God through his hiding were the only sufficient explanation of God.àTherefore, Luther stated it was imperative that theologians focus on the cross to âÂÂsee God as God wants to be seenâÂÂ. âÂÂThose who seek to know the invisible things of God, namely, God's glory, majesty, wisdom, and justice, through the wisdom of natural revelation are chastised as theologians of glory by LutherâÂÂ.
The concept connects to free will within Christian theology as it leads to the belief that âÂÂGod must remain hidden [â¦] failing to do so would lead to a loss of morally significant freedom on the part of creaturesâÂÂ.
LutherâÂÂs conception of the Revealed God was derived from specific scripture in the Christian bible which detail how only through Christ does God choose to be revealed.àPassages of significance include John 14:8-9, âÂÂ8 Philip said, âÂÂLord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.â 9 Jesus answered: âÂÂDonâÂÂt you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, âÂÂShow us the FatherâÂÂ?âÂÂ.ÃÂ
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The Revealed God contributes to debate in Philosophy of Religion whereby philosophers such as J. L. Schellenberg have used it to support the view of atheism.
SchellenbergâÂÂs line of argument attempts to disprove the Judeo-Christian-Islamic God by stating that were there a perfectly loving God, He would adequately reveal Himself to allow every person to attain personal relationship with Him.àHowever, since âÂÂthere are capable, inculpable non-believers [â¦] there is no perfectly loving GodâÂÂ. ÃÂ
SchellenbergâÂÂs Argument:
A similar Lutheran concept is that of the Hidden God, a deity whose grace is hidden, which is often considered to be interconnected to the Revealed God.àLutherâÂÂs depiction of âÂÂdeus absconditusâ can be found in his work Bondage of the Will (De servo arbitrio). LutherâÂÂs concept asserts that the first instance of hiding in the Christian Bible occurred in the garden of Eden where Adam and Eve sought to hide from God. Following this instance, God has remained hidden in the sense that his will and counsels remain unknown to any except him.
There are two contrasting views of the implications of Luther's depiction of a Hidden God:
A prevalent issue in theological scholarship is the relationship between the Revealed God and the Hidden God.àControversy has arisen as to whether the âÂÂdeus revelatusâ and âÂÂdeus absconditusâ refer to two distinct strands of theology which only have the concept of hiddenness in common, or are identical in form.àIt is claimed that according to his own writings, 'Luther never preached two or three gods or powers; he was not a Manichaean or anti-Trinitarian', however a seeming paradox is contested. Gerrish forms two differing groups of theologians dependent on whether they believe the terms are antithetical or identical. ÃÂ
Theologians who believe the terms are antithetical include Hendel, Theodosius Harnack, the two Ritschls, Reinhold Seeberg, Hirsch, Elert, and Holl.àSuch theologians argue the dualistic nature of the terms and state that the two differing views of God they produce cannot be reconciled.àHendel states âÂÂLuther warns that the theologian and believer must distinguish between the God preached, or revealed, and the God hidden, "that is, between the Word of God and God himselfâÂÂâÂÂ.àHarnackâÂÂs work was considered to be a rediscovering of the concept of the Hidden and Revealed God whereby âÂÂthe notion of hiddenness expresses a double relation of God to the world: outside of Christ he is the free, all-working, majestic God of the Law; in Christ he is the gracious Redeemer who has bound himself to his Word and SacramentsâÂÂ. This position was also held by Althaus who stated that through his conception of the Revealed and Hidden God, Luther divided God; 'God, according to His secret will, to a great extent disagrees with His Word offering grace to all men'.
Theologians who believe the terms are identical are Kattenbusch and Erich Seeberg.àThe theologians argue that a single event of revelation led people through faith to see the Revealed God, and through simply sense-perception see the Hidden God.àKattenbusch perpetuated the standpoint of the two terms as identical, asserting that âÂÂGod hides himself in his revelation, so that revelation and hiddenness are not opposed, but coincideâÂÂ.
LutherâÂÂs theology has remained relevant in a multitude of modern theological debates such as evolutionary debate. ÃÂ
Theologian Charlene Burns has examined meaning of violent evolution with regards to Christian theology.àScientific discoveries continue to uncover violence as a marker of the origin of the world, from the âÂÂmovement of fault lines in the earth to the extinction of speciesâÂÂ. Burns uses a phenomenological approach to discuss the violence which is inherent to evolution.àBurns states that âÂÂGod is revealed not in the suffering of Christ on the cross, per se, but in what that suffering stimulatesâÂÂ, and states that evolution has led to humanity becoming âÂÂdestroyersâÂÂ.àBurns concludes by asserting that the idea of God being revealed through the suffering of Christ exemplifies the altruistic nature of God, which humanity is called to emulate in its current advanced stage of evolution.