theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

, a ''deus otiosus'' or "idle god" is a

creator god A creator deity or creator god (often called the Creator) is a deity responsible for the creation of the Earth, world, and universe in human religion and mythology. In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator. A number of monolatri ...

who largely retires from the world and is no longer involved in its daily operation, a central tenet of

Deism Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin ''deus'', meaning " god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that empirical reason and observation o ...

Similarity to ''deus absconditus''

A similar concept is that of the '' deus absconditus'' or "hidden god" of

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, Dominican Order, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino, Italy, Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest who was an influential List of Catholic philo ...

(1225–1274) and

Nicolaus Cusanus Nicholas of Cusa (1401 – 11 August 1464), also referred to as Nicholas of Kues and Nicolaus Cusanus (), was a German Catholic cardinal, philosopher, theologian, jurist, mathematician, and astronomer. One of the first German proponents of Renai ...

. Although Aquinas was a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and not a

deist Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin '' deus'', meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that empirical reason and observation ...

, the concept of the "idle god" refers to a deity whose existence is not readily knowable by humans solely through contemplation or through the examination of divine actions. The concept of ''deus otiosus'' often suggests a god who has grown weary from involvement in this world and who has been replaced by younger, more active gods, whereas ''deus absconditus'' suggests a god who has consciously left this world to hide elsewhere.

Examples

* In Sumer, the younger gods

Enlil Enlil, , "Lord f theWind" later known as Elil, is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Ba ...

and

Enki , image = Enki(Ea).jpg , caption = Detail of Enki from the Adda Seal, an ancient Akkadian cylinder seal dating to circa 2300 BC , deity_of = God of creation, intelligence, crafts, water, seawater, lakewater, fertility, semen, magic, mischief ...

replace the ''deus otiosus''

Anu , image=Detail, upper part, Kudurru of Ritti-Marduk, from Sippar, Iraq, 1125-1104 BCE. British Museum.jpg , caption=Symbols of various deities, including Anu (bottom right corner) on a kudurru of Ritti-Marduk, from Sippar, Iraq, 1125–1104 BCE , ...

. * In Greek mythology, the older gods like

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus ( Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars), grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter) and father of ...

and

Gaia In Greek mythology, Gaia (; from Ancient Greek , a poetical form of , 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea , is the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthen ...

make way for Cronos and Rhea who in turn are succeeded by the Olympians

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek relig ...

and

Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...

and company. *

Adi Shakti Mahadevi ( sa, महादेवी, ), also referred to as Adi Parashakti, Adi Shakti, and Abhaya Shakti, is the supreme goddess in the Shaktism sect of Hinduism. According to this tradition, all Hindu goddesses are considered to be manifest ...

appears as a ''deus otiosus'' in some medieval Hindu ''

purana Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

s''. * In

Baltic mythology Baltic mythology is the body of mythology of the Baltic people stemming from Baltic paganism and continuing after Christianization and into Baltic folklore. Baltic mythology ultimately stems from Proto-Indo-European mythology. The Baltic regio ...

Deivas most probably was a ''deus otiosus''. * In Christianity,

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

used the notion of ''deus absconditus'' to explain the mystery and remoteness of God.

Ishvara in Vaisheshika Hinduism

Vaisheshika Vaisheshika or Vaiśeṣika ( sa, वैशेषिक) is one of the six schools of Indian philosophy (Vedic systems) from ancient India. In its early stages, the Vaiśeṣika was an independent philosophy with its own metaphysics, epistemolog ...

school of Hinduism, early theories were atheistic / non-theistic, the universe explained as composed of eternal ''paramanu'' (atoms) of substances whose combinations and interactions explained the nature of the universe. In 1st millennium AD, the school added the concept of ''

Ishvara ''Ishvara'' () is a concept in Hinduism, with a wide range of meanings that depend on the era and the school of Hinduism. Monier Monier Williams, Sanskrit-English dictionarySearch for Izvara University of Cologne, Germany In ancient texts of ...

'' to its atomistic naturalism. These later Vaiśeṣika scholars retained their belief that substances are eternal, included ''Ishvara'' as another eternal who is also omniscient and omnipresent. ''Ishvara'' (or ''

Deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * Deva ...

'') did not create the world, according to this school of Hindu scholars, but only created the hidden universal laws that operate the world, and then withdrew to let those laws operate on their own. Thus, Vaisheshika's ''Ishvara'' mirrors ''Deus otiosus'', as a God who retires after he has created the laws that govern nature. Klostermaier states ''Ishvara'' can be understood as an eternal God who co-exists in the universe with eternal substances and atoms, who "winds up the clock, and lets it run its course".

References

{{Authority control Conceptions of God Deism

Similarity to ''deus absconditus''

Examples

Ishvara in Vaisheshika Hinduism

See also

References