Related to the issue of divine hiddenness, why isn’t God more obvious, Antony Flew uses the parable of an invisible gardener to show what he perceived as the difficulty of falsifying religious and theological claims. Let us consider his version of the parable and a response by a Christian, John Frame. Flew’s parable is as follows:

“Once upon a time two explorers came upon a clearing in the jungle. In the clearing were growing many flowers and many weeds. One explorer says, “Some gardener must tend this plot.” So they pitch their tents and set a watch. No gardener is ever seen. “But perhaps he is an invisible gardener.” So they set up a barbed-wire fence. They electrify it. They patrol with bloodhounds. (For they remember how H. G. Wells’ The Invisible Man could be both smelt and touched though he could not be seen.) But no shrieks ever suggest that some intruder has received a shock. No movements of the wire ever betray an invisible climber. The bloodhounds never give cry. Yet still the Believer is not convinced. “But there is a gardener, invisible, intangible, insensible to electric shocks, a gardener who has no scent and makes no sound, a gardener who comes secretly to look after the garden which he loves.” At last the Skeptic despairs, “But what remains of your original assertion? Just how does what you call an invisible, intangible, eternally elusive gardener differ from an imaginary gardener or even from no gardener at all?”[1]

Here is Frame’s response:

“Once upon a time two explorers came upon a clearing in the jungle. A man was there, pulling weeds, applying fertilizer, trimming branches. The man turned to the explorers and introduced himself as the royal gardener. One explorer shook his hand and exchanged pleasantries. The other ignored the gardener and turned away: “There can be no gardener in this part of the jungle,” he said; “this must be some trick. Someone is trying to discredit our previous findings.” They pitch camp. Every day the gardener arrives, tends the plot. Soon the plot is bursting with perfectly arranged blooms. “He’s only doing it because we’re here-to fool us into thinking this is a royal garden.” The gardener takes them to a royal palace, introduces the explorers to a score of officials who verify the gardener’s status. Then the skeptic tries a last resort: “Our senses are deceiving us. There is no gardener, no blooms, no palace, no officials. It’s still a hoax!” Finally the believer despairs: “But what remains of your original assertion? Just how does this mirage, as you call it, differ from a real gardener?”[2]

So, what are we to make of these parables and the question of divine hiddenness? While I appreciate their work, an issue is that both parables seem to oversimplify the matter. When we read Flew’s invisible gardener, we agree that gardeners are the type of entity that one should be able to detect. Similarly, with Frame’s parody, we agree that it is unreasonable to deny that there is a gardener. However, I think for most people, the reality of the situation is that it is not so black and white. There seems to be a tension in which there are signs that God is there, yet He also seems hard to find. Consequently, I think it comes back to the larger worldview question. Does atheism sufficiently account for the psychology of belief, and can it make sense of the features of this world, such as the contingent nature of the universe, its design, morality, beauty, meaning in life, and the historical facts surrounding the life of Jesus, etc.? Or does Christianity’s explanation that humanity is in a state of rebellion against God, and that God does not seek that people merely know that He exists, but that God seeks a loving relationship with individuals and has left enough evidence that those who freely seek Him, will find He has been holding his arms wide open since before He was stretched out on a cross.

Conclusion

The issue of why God is not more apparent is complicated, and I hope these analogies of a gardener provide you with one more thing to consider about whether humanity is alone in a dark world or whether God is there, tending over us.

By David Graieg 30 July 2022

[1][1] Flew, “Theology and Falsification,” 96.

[2] Frame, “God and Biblical Language,” 171.

Bibliography

Flew, Antony. “Theology and Falsification.” In New Essays in Philosophical Theology, edited by Antony Flew and Alasdair Maclntyre, 96–99. London: SCM Press, 1955.

Frame, John. “God and Biblical Language: Transcendence and Immanence.” In God’s Inerrant Word: An International Symposium on the Trustworthiness of Scripture, edited by John W. Montgomery, 159–177. Minneapolis, Bethany Fellowship, 1974. Available at: http://www.frame-poythress.org/god-and-biblical-language-transcendence-and-immanence/

The Invisible Gardener

Conclusion