Deism
Deism is belief in a God or first cause based on reason rather than faith, distinguishing it from theism. Deism is usually synonymous with "natural religion" in 18th century Enlightenment writings. Deism originated in 17th century Europe, gaining popularity in the 18th century Englightenment especially in America as a modernist movement inspired by the success of the scientific method (Reference). Deists emphasize the exclusive application of reason and personal experience to religious questions. Relying on empirical evidence demonstrating a natural world obeying natural laws, Deists reject the idea of a theistic God actively involved in the universe beyond its creation. Deism is concerned with those truths which humans can discover through a process of reasoning, independent of any claimed divine revelation through scripture or prophets.
18th century popularity
Deism was founded on the belief that the universe was created by a God who then made no further intervention in its affairs, often expressed by the metaphor of the "Divine Watchmaker" who created a mechanism so perfect as to be self-regulating.
Deism developed in response to Newtonian physics, by which matter is shown to behave in a manner mathematically predictable by natural laws. It was popular among thinkers of the Enlightenment such as Voltaire and the Founding Fathers of the United States.
Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin are perhaps the most well-known of the American founding Deists. Thomas Paine published The Age of Reason, a tract that popularized Deism throughout America and Europe.
See also
- List of Deists
- Related freethought philosophies include agnosticism, aldeism, atheism, freethought, panentheism, pantheism, transcendentalism, universism
External links
- Of the Religion of Deism Compared with the Christian Religion by Thomas Paine
- Definition of deism from The Dictionary of the History of Ideas at the University of Virginia
- United Deist Community Established in 1999.
- IDeA (International Deist Alliance) sites: United Deist Church, Positive Deismand PONDER Presence On the Net of Deists for Enlightenment and Reason
- World Union of Deists based in Saint Petersburg, Florida
- Deism and Reason, from a website (disclaimer) on "controversial local politics, religious abuse, and general history"