What is Deism?

Deism is a religious belief that has been around since the ancient times. It became very popular during the Age of Enlightenment. It is based on reason and naturalistic observation. Their concerns include the relationship between the “creator” and the natural world. Deists believe that there is no need for organized religion and that it just confuses people. They recognize that the Earth came from an all-powerful creator; however, they do not believe this creator interferes with human affairs today.

The image above illustrates the fact that deists don't accept these practices. A deist does not agree with the Christianity beliefs or any other similar practices. The word of God isn’t read or followed. They seem to think that people claim to have witnessed miracles, which they do not believe in, along with prophecies. People can only know God through reasoning, never miracles. Deists reject everything that relates to the supernatural world.

This is an image related to the basic beliefs of the deists. They solely believe in none other than the Nature’s God, which is stated here.

Even though they do not believe in divine intervention, some use prayer as a form of meditation. Neither Satan nor hell exists to the deists, because they believe the only sense of evil they will encounter can be overcome by man’s reasoning. These people are not atheists, but have been accused, by theists, of having similarities.

Above is a video about iDeism, which is a spin off of Deism, with the same beliefs. It acknowledges the belief of naturalistic observation in science to determine one's reasoning about God. It also talks about how organized faith and works have no impact on this religion. The "i" in iDeism stands for the intercepting of God and his creations.

The “Age of Reason”, written by Thomas Paine, was a famous work that brought attention to the Deist religion, which he himself believed in, and is a very famous work even today.

“I trouble not myself about the manner of future existence. I content myself with believing, even to positive conviction, that the power that gave me existence is able to continue it, in any form and manner he pleases, either with or without this body; and it appears more probable to me that I shall continue to exist hereafter than that I should have had existence, as I now have, before that existence began.” 

This is a direct quote from Thomas Paine explaining his agnostic views about the immortality of the human soul.

God does exist, but he doesn’t alter any of the natural world by interfering. He simply created the universe and gave humans the ability to reason, then left it at that. Deists believe in the clockwork universe theory. This is a theory that states that a god designed and built the universe, but is now letting it run its own course.


Works Cited:
www.churchofdeism.org/main/
www.allaboutphilosophy.org/deism.htm
www.deism.com/deism_defined.htm
www.sullivan-county.com/deism.htm