Abstract

The thesis of this dissertation is that the existence of "divine abandonment"---instances of horrific, inscrutable suffering attended by divine silence---serves as significant evidence against theism. The argument of this dissertation is thus the "Argument from Divine Abandonment" . ;Part 1 presents a comprehensive summary of the development of arguments from evil since William Rowe's influential 1979 article entitled "The Problem of Evil and Some Varieties of Atheism." Part 1 also presents a short summary of recent arguments collectively known as "Arguments from Divine Hiddenness." ;Part 2 lays out a defense of the Argument from Divine Abandonment by defining key terms , by defending the notion that divine abandonment exists, and by offering prima facie reasons to think that a perfect being would not permit the existence of divine abandonment. ;Part 3 defends the ADA from reasons that are based on goods with which we are familiar to explain why a perfect being might permit divine abandonment. Such reasons may be based on spiritual development, love, or faith. ;Part 4 defends the ADA from the claim that there may be some reason with which we are unfamiliar that may explain why a perfect being might permit divine abandonment. An extended, cumulative form of Rowe's recent Bayesian argument is offered to make the ADA more resistant to this claim than Rowe's original argument. Part 5 defends the ADA from the claim that any such argument must fail because it relies on positive knowledge of God's attributes. Although the ADA is vulnerable to this claim, it is argued that the theist who adopts a purely negative approach to the knowledge of God must accept a number of undesirable theological consequences. Part 6 concludes that the prima facie case that a perfect being would not permit the existence of divine abandonment is ultimately undefeated and succeeds as significant evidence against theism