Deism – a new view of God

Key Questions What was the historical context for the rise of

deism in the 18th century? Where did (does) deism place its confidence? How does deism view God? How does deism address the major worldview

questions? How does deism differ from orthodox

Christian theism?

Historical Background 15th century Renaissance –

More “modern worldview emerged More humanistic, secular, and individualistic

Scientific Revolution of the 16th-18th centuries Advances in math and science challenged

traditionally held ideas about the world and how it worked

New ideas – 16th-18th centuries New view of cosmology – the universe

Helio-centrism- a sun centered solar system The Church had supported an earth centered system

Galileo Sir Isaac Newton- Universal law of gravitation –

provided mathematical proof for how helio-centrism could work

“clockwork” universe- ordered and precise- governed by rational laws

Modern empiricism –the scientific method of observation and rational induction Sir Francis Bacon Truth claims had to be empirically (rationally

and scientifically) verifiable Advances in mathematics- Rational deduction

Renee Descartes- “I think, therefore I am.” Dualism-

Objective science (facts) Subjective – mind, imagination, perceptions, etc.

The Enlightenment – Age of Reason “Trust in the light of reason alone.”

18th century intellectual and cultural movement ( centered in France and Britain)

Challenged traditional ideas, institutions, values, knowledge, etc. Religious beliefs and institutions (the Church) Models of government

(American and French Revolutions)

Major figures: John Locke, Voltaire, Thomas Jefferson

A shift in authority (Sire chapter 3) There was a shift away from accepting the

authority of the church and its reliance on divine revelation and the Bible- special revelation – Jesus as the Incarnation

The human mind (reason) became the authority on what was true and possible. General revelation (the natural world) was the

only revelation open to human beings

Deism’s view of God God is prime reality God created the universe- material world

and established rational laws that governed it - General revelation Cause and effect system Ordered – not chaotic The system is CLOSED- no possibility of

transcending natural laws God does not interact with creation –God is

remote and impersonal

Deism’s view of God No such thing as special revelation

No miracles, virgin birth, Incarnation, resurrection, etc.

the idea of “sin” against a righteous and just God was generally rejected – No need for a Savior or redemption knowledge is the key to morality and human

advancement and goodness Death and the afterlife are not clearly understood

or defined in deism History is not necessarily being directed by God

for any specific purpose or plan

Famous American Deists

George Washington “There is nothing which can better deserve our

patronage than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.”

Washington refused to take communion.  When “excoriated about this in a sermon he ceased to come to church on any communion Sunday.”

John Adams "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.“

“Let the human mind loose. It must be loose. It will be loose. Superstition and dogmatism cannot confine it.”

John Adams "This revelation has made it certain that two and

one makes three, and that one is not three nor can three be one. We can never be so certain of any prophecy, or of any miracle, or the design of any miracle, as we are from the revelation of nature, i.e., Nature's God, that two and two are equal to four. Miracles or prophecies might frighten us out of our wits; might scare us to death; might induce us to lie, to say that we believe that two and two make five. But we should not believe it. We should know the contrary."

Benjamin Franklin "If a man empties his purse into his head, no man

can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest."

"God helps them that help themselves." "The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of

reason." "Original sin was as ridiculous as imputed

righteousness."

James Madison "The civil government ... functions

with complete success ... by the total separation of the Church from the State.“

Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise…...”

Thomas Jefferson "Reason and free inquiry are the only

effectual agents against error.“ “Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on

her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear."

Thomas Paine "Science is the true theology." "God is the power of first cause, nature is

the law, and matter is the subject acted upon."

"The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason. I have never used any other and I trust I never shall."

Paine "The creation is the Bible of the Deist. He

there reads, in the handwriting of the Creator himself, the certainty of His existence and the immutability of His power, and all other Bibles and Testaments are to him forgeries."

Mark Twain The Bible is a mass of fables and tradition,

mere mythology.” “If Christ were here now there is one thing

he would not be- a Christian.” “It ain’t the parts of the Bible that I can’t

understand that bother me, it is the parts that I can understand.”

Albert Einstein "I cannot imagine a God who rewards and

punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own - a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. It is enough for me to contemplate the mystery of conscious life perpetuating itself through all eternity, to reflect upon the marvelous structure of the universe which we can dimly perceive and to try humbly to comprehend even an infinitesimal part of the intelligence manifested in Nature."

What is the common thread throughout these quotations? Focus on human reason

Focus on understanding God and his creation solely through science and rationality

Traditional Christianity (special revelation) is not rational – not empirical – must be disregarded

“The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.”  Werner Heisenberg (father of quantum

mechanics)

Deism served as a BRIDGE between Christian theism and naturalism (atheistic position – NO God )

– James Sire- Chapter 3

Deism redefined God –

Growing secularism

Growing confidence in science and rationality as the sole path to knowledge and truth