Deus absconditus

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" (Isaiah 45:15).

This concept was particularly important for the theological thought of the medieval Christian theologians Thomas Aquinas,[1] Nicholas of Cusa,[2] and Martin Luther.

[3] Luther unfolded his views on Deus absconditus in his theological treatise De Servo Arbitrio in 1525.

[4] In the Kingdom of France, the concept was important to the Jansenist movement, which included Blaise Pascal and Jean Racine.

The French philosopher Lucien Goldmann would title a 1964 book on Pascal and Racine, The Hidden God: A Study of Tragic Vision in the Pensées of Pascal and the Tragedies of Racine.