Deus otiosus

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In the history of religion and philosophy, deus otiosus (Latin: "inactive god") is the belief in a creator God who has entirely withdrawn from governing the universe after creating it or is no longer involved in its daily operation. [1] In Western philosophy the concept of deus otiosus has been associated with Deism since the 17th century, although not a core tenet as often thought. [1]

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Examples in the history of religion

Ishvara in Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika Hinduism

In the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika school of Hinduism as well as in the other ancient Indian schools of philosophy, early philosophical and cosmological theories were predominantly atheistic or non-theistic, which postulated that all objects in the physical universe are reducible to paramāṇu (atoms) of substances whose aggregations, combinations, and interactions explained the nature of the universe. [6] [7] [8] In the 1st millennium CE, the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika school added the concept of Ishvara to its atomistic naturalism. [6] [9] These later Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika atomists retained their belief that substances are eternal, but included the belief in the existence of an Ishvara, which is regarded as the eternal Supreme Being who is also omniscient and omnipresent. [7]

Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika atomists held that the world was created when order was imposed on pre-existing matter: the motion of atoms was ascribed to the agency of a Supreme Being, which did not create the universe out of nothing according to the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika school. [6] In the 11th century CE, the organization of atoms was cited as a proof for the existence of God by some Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika atomists. [6] According to Klaus Klostermaier, the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika belief in the existence of an Ishvara mirrors the Western belief in deus otiosus, since both are conceived as a creator God who retires from the universe after having created the laws that govern nature. [7] Klostermaier further states that Ishvara can be understood as an eternal God who co-exists in the universe with eternal substances and atoms, describing it as a Divine Watchmaker who "winds up the clock, and lets it run its course". [7] : 337 

Similarity to Deus absconditus

A similar concept to the one of deus otiosus is that of deus absconditus (Latin: "hidden god"), formulated by two prominent Scholastic and Roman Catholic theologians that lived during the Late Middle Ages: Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) [10] and Nicholas of Cusa (1401–1464). [11] The term is derived from the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, specifically from the Book of Isaiah: "Truly, you are a God who hides himself, Oh God of Israel, the Savior" (Isaiah 45:15). Today, the Christian theological concept of deus absconditus is primarily associated with the theology of Martin Luther and later Protestant theologians. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hindu deities</span>

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<i>Ishvara</i> Hindu epithet

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pandeism</span> Belief that God created the universe by becoming it

Pandeism is a theological doctrine that combines aspects of pantheism with aspects of deism. Unlike classical deism, which holds that the creator deity does not interfere with the universe after its creation, pandeism holds that such an entity became the universe and ceased to exist as a separate entity. Pandeism purports to explain why God would create a universe and then appear to abandon it, and pandeism seeks to explain the origin and purpose of the universe.

Praśastapāda was an ancient Indian philosopher. He wrote the Padārtha-dharma-saṅgraha and a commentary, titled Praśastapāda Bhāṣya, on the Vaisheshika Sutras of Kanada ; both texts are comprehensive books in physics. In these texts Prashastapada discusses the properties of motion. Ganganath Jha had translated Praśastapāda Bhāṣya which was published in 1916. Prashasta or Praśasta means praised or praiseworthy, lauded or laudable, commended or commendable or eulogized.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deus revelatus (Christian theology)</span> Christian theological concept of the self-revelation of God

Deus revelatus refers to the Christian theological concept coined by Martin Luther which affirms that the ultimate self-revelation of God relies on his hiddenness. It is the particular focus of Luther’s 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. These two conflicting strands of thought present the main problem when interpreting Luther’s doctrine of the Revealed God. In recent years the term has been used to inform modern analysis of religious themes such as evolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deus absconditus (Christian theology)</span> Christian theological concept of the fundamental unknowability of the essence of God

Deus absconditus refers to the Christian theological concept of the fundamental unknowability of the essence of God. The term is derived from the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, specifically from the Book of Isaiah: "Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior". This concept was particularly important for the theological thought of the medieval Christian theologians Thomas Aquinas, Nicholas of Cusa, and Martin Luther.

A number of Christian writers have examined the concept of pandeism, and these have generally found it to be inconsistent with core principles of Christianity. The Roman Catholic Church, for example, condemned the Periphyseon of John Scotus Eriugena, later identified by physicist and philosopher Max Bernhard Weinstein as presenting a pandeistic theology, as appearing to obscure the separation of God and creation. The Church similarly condemned elements of the thought of Giordano Bruno which Weinstein and others determined to be pandeistic.

References

  1. 1 2 Doniger, Wendy; Eliade, Mircea, eds. (1999). "DEUS OTIOSUS". Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster. p. 288. ISBN   9780877790440. OCLC   1150050382. DEUS OTIOSUS (Latin: "inactive god") in the history of religions and philosophy, a High God who has withdrawn from the immediate details of the government of the world. [...] In Western philosophy, the deus otiosus concept has been attributed to Deism, a 17th–18th century Western rationalistic religio-philosophical movement, in its view of a non-intervening creator of the universe. Although this stark interpretation was accepted by very few Deists, many of their antagonists attempted to force them into the position of stating that after the original act of creation God virtually withdrew and refrained from interfering in the processes of nature and human affairs.
  2. ↑ Eliade, Mircea (1978). A History of Religious Ideas: From the Stone Age to the Eleusinian Mysteries. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 57.
  3. ↑ Werblowsky, R. J. Zwi. "polytheism". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  4. ↑ "Chapter IV". Series 04 IVA-17. www.crvp.org. Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2008.
  5. 1 2 Macquarrie, John (1983). "Deus absconditus". In Richardson, Alan; Bowden, John (eds.). The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. p. 155. ISBN   9780664227487.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Berryman, Sylvia (Winter 2022). "Ancient Atomism – Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika atomism". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy . The Metaphysics Research Lab, Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford University. ISSN   1095-5054. OCLC   643092515. Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Klostermaier, Klaus (2007). A Survey of Hinduism (3rd ed.). Albany, New York: SUNY Press. ISBN   9780791470824.
  8. ↑ Collins, R. (2000). The Sociology of Philosophies. Harvard University Press. p. 836. ISBN   978-0674001879.
  9. ↑ Goel, A. (1984). Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika and modern science. Indian philosophy. Sterling. pp. 149–151. ISBN   978-0865902787.
  10. ↑ Weber, Max (1978). Runciman, Walter Garrison (ed.). Max Weber: Selections in Translation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 220. ISBN   0-521-29268-9.
  11. ↑ Cusanus, Nicolaus (1959). Wilpert, Paul (ed.). Opuscula I: De Deo abscondito, De quaerendo Deum, De filiatione Dei, De dato Patris luminum, Coniectura de ultimis diebus, De genesi. Nicolai de Cusa: Opera Omnia. Vol. IV. Hamburg, West Germany: Meiner.
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