Histories of the Hidden God

In Western religious traditions, God is conventionally conceived as a humanlike creator, lawgiver, and king, a being both accessible and actively present in history. Yet there is a concurrent and strong tradition of a God who actively hides. The two traditions have led to a tension between a God who is simultaneously accessible to humanity and yet inaccessible, a God who is both immanent and transcendent, present and absent. Western Gnostic, esoteric, and mystical thinking capitalizes on the hidden and hiding God. He becomes the hallmark of the mystics, Gnostics, sages, and artists who attempt to make accessible to humans the God who is secreted away. 'Histories of the Hidden God' explores this tradition from antiquity to today. The essays focus on three essential themes: the concealment of the hidden God; the human quest for the hidden God, and revelations of the hidden God.

"All of these chapters are learned and provocative, and many will surely become standard citations—and flash-points of debate—in their respective fields... Histories of the Hidden God will prove worthwhile and thought-provoking reading to scholars of religion who are interested in ‘‘Gnosticism, esotericism, and mysticism’’ and wish to hone their knowledge of their own sub-fields while learning about material with which they may be less familiar." - Nova Religio

April D. DeConick is Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor of Biblical Studies, Rice University, Houston, Texas.Grant Adamson is Ph.D. candidate, Rice University.