如果上帝存在，為甚麼祂不在宇宙中現身，向世人宣示自己的存在？這是纏繞宗教信徒千年的問題，在宗教哲學學界卻鮮有討論。直至1993年，著名無神論宗教哲學家John Schellenberg出版《Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason》一書，為「上帝隱匿難題（divine hiddenness problem）」提供了嚴謹之論證，在國際學界引起廣泛討論，成為當代哲學經典名著。近期，國際著名學術機構 英國伯明翰大學宗教哲學中心 與 美國約翰·坦伯頓基金，亦對本書之台灣中譯計畫頒發「全球宗教哲學計劃翻譯獎助金」（陳樂知譯，計畫進行中，預定於臺大出版中心出版），可見國際學界對此問題之重視。
課程以研讀Schellenberg之名著為主，並輔以其他當代哲學家之相關文獻。課程可能使用部份中譯稿。書中，Schellenberg亦細心討論Soren Kierkegaard、Blaise Pascal、John Calvin、David Hume、Karl Rahner、John Hick、Alvin Plantinga等古今著名哲學家與神學家之相關重要文獻。修課同學將接觸古今各學術傳統針對上帝之辯論。
本課程非宗教課，不會預設或推廣任何宗教觀點；修課同學無需熟悉任何宗教傳統或典籍。課程集中於英美分析哲學著作，但文獻大多直接討論宗教問題，修課同學無需熟悉該哲學傳統。

If God exists, why doesn’t he appear in the universe and declare his existence to the world? This is a problem that has disturbed religious believers for thousands of years. Academic discussion of the question had surprisingly been lacking until the publication of Schellenberg’s influential book, Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason, in 1993. The book provides a rigorous defense of the ‘divine hiddenness problem’, and has since widely discussed by theists and atheists alike and become a contemporary philosophical classic masterpiece. Recently, the internationally renowned academic institutions, the Birmingham Centre for Philosophy of Religion and the John Templeton Foundation, have also awarded the ‘Global Philosophy of Religion Project Translation Grant’ to the Taiwan Chinese Translation Project of this book (translated by Lok-Chi Chan, project in progress, scheduled to be published by the NTU Press). This shows that the international academic community attaches great importance to the issue.

The course focuses on investigating Schellenberg’s masterpieces, supplemented by related literature by other contemporary philosophers. Some drafts of the Chinese translation may be used in the course. In the book, Schellenberg also offers a careful survey of the religious thoughts of such influential philosophers and theologians as Pascal, Calvin, Kierkegaard, Rahner, Hick, Plantinga, and others. Students in the course will be exposed to the debates for and against God in various academic traditions, ancient and modern.

This course is not a religious class, and will not presuppose or promote any religious views. Students taking this course do not need to be familiar with any religious traditions or classics. In addition, although the course focuses on Anglo-American analytic philosophy, most of the readings discuss religious issues directly, and so students taking this course do not need to be familiar with the philosophical tradition.