The Natural Philosophy of Deism

Image via Wikipedia Potrait of John Adams, well known Deist and founding Father of the US

“The question before the human race is, whether the God of nature shall govern the world by his own laws, or whether priests and kings shall rule it by fictitious miracles.” – John Adams

“Is it because you are sunk in the cruelty of superstition, or feel no interest in the honor of your Creator, that you listen to the horrid tales of the Bible, or hear them with callous indifference?”- Thomas Paine

“When I do good I feel good; when I do bad I feel bad; and that’s my religion.”- Abraham Lincoln

Introduction

A Deist is often described as a “free thinker”.  And that simple phrase is a great description.  Deists think freely without any special revelation (Scripture,prophet,messiahs,apostles,etc.) to get in the way of your wonder and thoughts about God, the universe, man and how they all relate.  We have the freedom to look at who God is and how he works with out an impeding presumption that comes with revealed religions.

Forms of Deism:

1. Classical Deism – Belief in an God that created the universe then left it to run on its own. Many non-deists see this as an evil God at worst or an empathetic on at best.  But those who follow this one believe that God has created the best universe possible and so no intervention is necessary.
2. Personal Deism – In this view, the creator takes on a bigger role.  He also the sustains the universe.  He intervenes on occasion
3. Pandeism – This is a view that after God created the universe, he became part of it.  So, while God once was a separate entity from the universe, he and the universe are now one and the same.
4. Christian Deism – This is an odd form of deism.  They accept most of the same beliefs in deism, but they view Jesus Christ as a deist as well.  They think much can be learned from studying his works and sayings in the Christian gospels

Deism

Deism is many and varied due to the ability to think outside of a religious text.  But we all share common beliefs, views and principles.  The main thing we have in common is the idea that God is a God of nature.  God reveals himself through nature alone, not through any religious text.  It is only studying nature and the natural laws of the universe that we can truly come to know God.

Deism is a far better system of belief than revealed religions, because with deism you can get a whole picture of the universe that God created and the way he created it.  When it comes to religions like Christianity, you do not get this big picture due to creation myths.  Christians seem afraid that science will rule out any possibility of God, when on the other hand science confirms the existence of a higher intelligence.  So, to combat this sudden spur in scientific discoveries, Christians accepted the 6-day creation myth as the official stance of most Christian denominations.  It is also better then revealed religions, because it does not put humans on an undeserved pedestal.  Christians think that God created mankind alone in the universe.  And, as the only intelligent life forms, we deserve a special place in the universe.  This is arrogance.  To think that life could not have arisen on other planets due to the Creator wanting them there is wishful thinking.  And since Deists do not give themselves a special place in the universe, we treat the Earth on equal footing.  We believe that, since it is a creation of the Creator, we must do our best to take care of it.

Image via Wikipedia: Shows the expansion of the universe from the Big Bang

Deism is a more reasonable stance then atheism, as well.  Atheists tend to think that some part of the universe has always existed, even if it was just energy.  But, you cannot turn energy into matter no matter how big of an explosion it creates.  Do not get me wrong, I accept the Big Bang theory, but there had to be something more.  Some singularity that made it all happen.  I believe that due to the complexity of the universe and the seemingly order of its design, that God had to be that singularity.

So, that is a little bit about Deism.  If anyone has any questions to ask me, please feel free.  If you have a Triond account you can contact me there.  If you do not, feel free to email me at Biologos101@gmail.com.