The Hiddenness of the Divine

'Divinity' and 'the divine' can imply distinct things in various contexts.

The Iblisic narrative is congruent with atheism, theism, or agnosticism, such that an Iblisist can be an atheist, theist, or an agnostic depending on their prior background and attitudes. The theistic or agnostic Iblisist is likely to acknowledge the silence of the divine. He listens to the things this silence says to us. In some ways, this very hiddenness or quietude presents itself as a revelation.

The divine speaks without speaking and is hidden from view. [1]

The essential structure of the Iblisic narrative remains intact regardless of the view taken by an Iblisist with regard to the ontological status of the divine. It is simply that the objects to which terms in the narrative refer differ. In this page, the reader learns that there are a myriad of things potentially represented.

In those Christian, Hebrew, or Islamic contexts that adopt the Iblisic narrative or one or more of the ancient apocryphal views of Satan, differing as they do from Milton's view of Satan, the relationship of Satan and divinity is very different. In the Luciferic narrative, the devil revolts against divinity, while in the Iblisic narrative, the devil revolts against the ascent of humanity in the name of divinity.

The Iblisic narrative can accommodate a variety of views of motives in Iblis, whether these are creed, fealty, or blood. Likewise, 'god' could be replaced with 'divinity' and also accept different meanings. 'The divine' can refer to any of the following: a deity, the providence of laws governing nature, or the highest ideals of a caste.

From the Wikipedia entry on the divine: "In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a single deity or abstract ideal but was recognized in multiple forms: as a radiant attribute possessed by gods, as a vital force cushioning nature, and even as a quality glimpsed in extraordinary humans, laws, or acts." Below, I offer some quotes that deepen and broaden these alternative conceptions of the divine.

"Vere tu es Deus absconditus."

"Truly, you are the hidden God."

     - From the Nova Vulgata text of the Catholic Church

کنت کنزاً مخفیاً فأحببت أن أعرف فخلقت الخلق لکی أعرف 

"I was a hidden treasure; I loved to be known. Hence I created the world so that I would be known."

     - The Hadith of the Hidden Treasure [a hadith qudsi]

"I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord ..."

     - Isaiah 45:4

"The words of Scripture suffice; in the face of mystery, I’m content to stay silent."

     - The Ballad of Midnight and McRae

From a review of No Country for Old Men, regarding The Seventh Seal:

[The narrator of the above review]: "The Knight wants to know, not just believe, that God exists. He fears the silence of God means God isn't there and his life, lived mostly in crusade, is therefore meaningless."

The Knight tells Death: "I want God to reach out His hand, show His face, speak to me."

Death, rather than crushing the Knight with dismissal, responds by saying: "But he is silent."

These commentaries on culture evoke challenging questions. If the divine is a god, the faithful wonders how it can act. If the divine is embodied in a natural cycle, a law, or ideal type, we purvey it without grasping its essence.

[1] The entry for hiddenness in God at Stanford Encyclopedia.