Johnny MaiJason WongAlbert HA

Jake Shaver

Deism

Major Theme: Faith through Reason.Truth can be applied through proper

reasoning. Denies the existence of any God currently in practice;

“watchmaker god” Universe is a vast machine, set in motion and operates on

natural law, without any divine intervention. Bible is either accepted as absolute truth or not accepted

at all. What organized religions see as divine revelation and holy

books, most deists see as interpretations made by other humans, rather than as authoritative sources.

Deism Concepts

Large influence during the Enlightenment period, Enlightened thinking/philosophy of people such as John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin.

Never quite caught on and became as successful as ideologies such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism.

Deistic principles were in practice since Ancient Greece, and more so revolved around the idea of free thought and natural theology

History of Deism

In America, deists played a major role in creating the principle of separation of church and state, and the religious freedom clauses of the First Amendment of the Constitution. American deists include John Quincy Adams, Ethan Allen, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and (by most accounts) George Washington. Thomas Paine published The Age of Reason, a treatise that helped to popularize deism throughout America and Europe.

History of Deism

Deists have a common figure they tend to look up to. It appears in several different stories under different names:

Supreme Being Divine Author of the Universe Divine Providence — used in the United States Declaration of

Independence Grand Architect of the Universe — often used by members

of the Freemasonic lodges or societies which involve Masonic rituals

Nature's God — used in the United States Declaration of Independence

Father of Lights — Benjamin Franklin, when proposing that meetings of the Constitutional Convention begin with prayers

BUT, their relationship with Him was impersonal.

If Deists believe God left the universe, then who is ruling over us?

Matthew Tindal – Christianity as Old as the Creation

David Hume – A Treatise of Human NatureFounding Fathers including Thomas Jefferson,

Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, John Adams, and Alex Hamilton when constructing the US Constitution

The Declaration of IndependenceJean de Crevecoeur – What is an American.The Mayflower Compact

Deism Authors & Works

John Locke – “New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not common.”

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.”

David Hume – “The Christian religion not only was at first attended with miracles, but even at this day cannot be believed by any reasonable person without one.”

Deism Quotes

Deism Graphics