Is there a logical path from a disinterested, watch-winder transcendent agency who sets the universe in motion and never intervenes, to a caring, intercessory god who answers prayers, performs miracles, and is personally involved in human lives?
If both are said to be the same god, what justifies the move from the minimal, deistic creator (needed only to explain why there is something rather than nothing) to the richly involved, relational deity of classical theism?
- What philosophical or experiential bridges are usually proposed to cross this gap (e.g., moral experience, religious experience, historical claims), and are they logically sufficient?
- At what point does one stop talking about the same god and start talking about a different conception of god altogether?
- How might the problem of evil and divine hiddenness look different depending on which conception you adopt?