From Geneva to Wittenberg

The Hidden God vs The Revealed God In Reformed and Lutheran Theologies

One of the biggest concerns that moved me from Geneva to Wittenberg theologically and practically was the relationship between what Dr. Luther calls “the hidden god” and “the Revealed God.” Both of these theological categories, or ways of speaking about God, are present in both Reformed theology and Lutheranism, but the various contexts of their respective theologies end up viewing the relationship and outworking of such very differently. In this post, we will examine the relationship, but before we do so, let us define what exactly Luther means when he discusses “the hidden god” and “the Revealed God.”

THE HIDDEN GOD VS THE REVEALED GOD

Dr. Luther’s focus on the Revealed God came not from academic reasons, but from his own struggles with assurance that God was indeed gracious toward him. Roman Catholicism in his day was putting God in all His holiness and sheer terror on the same economic and salvation plane as God in Christ, and even Christ on the cross. In fact, during his day, since this was so, Christ was still looked at as terrifying, so people would look more to the Virgin Mary than to Christ, because the Virgin Mary, as a kind mother, would pacify the “terrors of Christ” and make Him more gentle by persuasion.

Luther rightly recognized that this was wrong-headed. Luther’s mentor, Johann von Staupitz, saw Luther’s terrors and he counseled him to find the gracious God in Christ alone and by looking to the Cross to find that God is gracious. It was then that Luther knew he had a gracious God. Luther even said “if it were not for the counsels of Stauptiz, I would have sunk into hell.”

So in this context, Luther understands “the hidden god” as God in all His holiness, majesty, sovereignty, and therefore sheer terror to sinners. This God is the God Who causes Mt. Sinai to smoke, so much so that if even an animal touches it, it is toast. This God is God apart from Christ, the God Who is terrible, the God Who damns sinners, the God Who has us born tainted with sin, and the God Who indeed has ordained every event that happens, including sin.

But Luther rightly saw this God as the One Who is inscrutable, the One Who cannot be comprehended or understood. In fact, the more we try and understand this God, the more we play with fire. This very same God warns us that no one can see Him and live.

We dare not seek God there. We dare not seek God in His unsearchable judgments.

Luther then contrasts this God with the Revealed God in Christ. In Christ, we find a God of love, One Who is gracious and forgiving and loving toward sinners. We must run to this God, we must seek Him as a Baby in the manger. It is this God alone that Luther cared to run to. It is here that God bid us find Him.

Otherwise, God hides Himself. God bids us look for Him and find Him in Christ alone, and to not concern ourselves with God outside of Christ.

This is why Luther would say “the Cross alone is our theology. This God is Man. This Man is God.”

THE HIDDEN GOD AND THE REVEALED GOD IN REFORMED THEOLOGY

Although Reformed theology does indeed have the categories of the hidden god vs the Revealed God in Christ, it nonetheless still starts with the eternal decrees through the covenant of redemption where the Father elects and the Son dies for and the Spirit applies salvation to the elect alone. Because of this, the Cross becomes the place in history where Christ merely manifests God’s election, and therefore Reformed theology has the doctrine of limited atonement. It has been asserted that there is no central doctrine in Calvinism by many Calvinists, but with its starting point being the covenant of redemption, which therefore starts with the eternal decrees and the glory of God, and thus manifesting election through limited atonement, the focus cannot avoid being stuck on God’s decrees and His sovereignty and therefore His glory.

This is very much the same thing as focusing on the hidden god.

Christ and the Incarnation, though confessed by the Reformed, end up taking a back seat.

God’s sovereignty and His decrees end up driving their thought and their system.

Even in its better forms, Calvinism cannot avoid this. You see this manifest in their own system through its continued iconoclasm, the regulative principle of worship, Sabbath concerns, etc.
And the hidden god is quite akin to law, which is why the hidden god at Sinai is sheer terror.

This hidden god is *not* for us.

The hidden god is against us.

Indeed, He has to be. He is holy, and we are not.

So, in the Revealed God in Christ in Reformed theology, since its focus is the decrees and limited atonement and particular grace, we nonetheless cannot be sure that God is *for us* under such thinking. How can we be sure this God died for us?

In fact, God still remains hidden in Reformed theology because you *cannot* look for Him in the Sacraments, since He is only present for the elect, according to all strands of Reformed theology.
Therefore, we are forced to look inward. And, if we do not look inward, we are forced to wonder if God is present for us in the Sacraments.

The way Reformed theology, therefore, sees the hidden god vs the Revealed God has severe practical consequences.

THE HIDDEN GOD VS THE REVEALED GOD IN LUTHERANISM

Under Lutheranism, since Lutheranism affirms universal grace and does not concern itself with God’s decrees, but simply allows for this Scriptural tension and paradox to nonetheless remain, we can rejoice in the *difference* between the hidden god and the Revealed God.

In Lutheranism, the hidden god remains hidden, and we do not concern ourselves with Him, lest we perish in our sins. We are only concerned about Christ and Christ alone. We do not care about the hidden decrees of God. To concern ourselves with the decrees–in *any* way–is spiritually dangerous. We cannot place law and Gospel on the same economic plane. Gospel–the Revealed God in Christ–is *always* God’s final Word, and always His highest authority.

God bids us look for Him in Christ alone and to not look for Him where He has not promised to be. To look for God in any place where He has not promised to be is to look to the hidden god and is spiritually dangerous. Luther calls this “Enthusiasm”, or “God within-ism.” Luther also rightly says that looking inward is the essence of what *sin* is. The power of sin is the law. The hidden god is law.

God in Christ, who indeed is *universally* gracious in Lutheranism, promises to be found as *for us* in His Word and in His Sacraments. *Never* apart from them. *Always* in the Word and in the Sacraments. The King has spoken. God is for us and comes down to us in ways we think are foolish–in Water, Bread, and Wine. And *really* and *truly*. Not resting upon whether we have faith or not. But really and truly as for us, and objectively. God indeed is really that gracious.

So in Lutheranism, the hidden god is law and terrifying and *not on the same plane* as the Revealed God in Christ and in the Gospel. Although we preach both law and Gospel, the Gospel is *always* God’s highest Word. This means that Christ–Who died for the sins of all who have ever lived and Who comes down to us in Word and Sacrament–is for us. He is the gracious God.

The Gospel of God’s universal saving grace in Word and Sacrament is always God’s highest and final Word.

The King has spoken.

This God is gracious and He is for you.

The Cross alone is our theology.

This God is Man.

This Man is God.

This God is Revealed in Christ for you. You will find Him where He has *promised* to be, objectively, all the time, for you, in Word and Sacrament.

Come and embrace this gracious God as He brings you into union with Himself in the waters of Holy Baptism, as He continually forgives you through His Word spoken through His pastor in Persona Christi in His gracious Word of Absolution, and as He continually makes Himself vulnerable for you by giving you His Body and His Blood in His Holy Supper, for the forgiveness of your sins.
Look for Him where He has promised to be for you, in Word and Sacrament.

This is the Good News. This God is indeed for you!