once man ascribed the natural order of life, the
flow of the seasons, the events of history, and
the consequences of moral action to the provi-
dence of God, his immediate efficacy as a being
was accepted. With the development of the
natural sciences and the increasingly technical
character of modern society the activity of God is
less and less understood in its concreteness. As
more and more of human life is withdrawn from
the province of God's effective concern there is
less ground on which to base the knowledge of
God. Medieval Hebrew and Christian tradition
can readily adduce the existence of God from the
unexplained marvels of the world. Knowledge of
its wonders was demonstrable proof of God's
existence and providence. God is today, how-
ever, the truly Unseen and Unrecognized
Presence; his created wonders have been with-
drawn by science and the bureaucratization of
the social order from his providential purview.
God no longer exists for modern philosophy,
for he no longer acts. That God is dead, not
merely concealed or eclipsed, is the key to
the modern rejection of God. For Death
means the cessation of activity. It is this, God's
activity, which is no longer perceived. Buber,
on the contrary, having affirmed that God is

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