in particular, his teachings.
Natural Law and the United States Constitution: Still Vital Connections – JURIST.
Constitution of the United States was based on Human Nature – Search (bing.com)
Constitution of the United States – Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Constitution of the United States shorthand version – Bing video
The concept that “Jesus is God in the flesh” was not made an official doctrine of the Church until the first Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., some ~300 years after Jesus’ death. There were those that doubted Jesus’ divinity, to a certain degree.
The Arians, for example, believed that Jesus was a son of God, but was also
a creature distinct from God, and that he (Jesus) did not always exist, unlike God.
The traditional view of Christianity is actually denomination dependent and specific. Not everyone believes the same thing. That’s why there are so many different denominations. Some reject the Trinity concept, yet, identify as Christians because they follow Jesus’ two commandments of, “Love God, Love People.” When it comes to baptism, some believe that sprinkling suffices, while others believe you must be fully submerged.
With regard to the afterlife, Catholics believe in Purgatory while Baptists reject it. Complicating things further still, is the Heaven concept. Some denominations believe that upon death, you immediately go to Heaven to be with Jesus, while others believe what is found in the Book of Revelation: you go to the grave and are in a state of soul sleep. You have no consciousness. You will be resurrected with everyone else, judged by your deeds, and then go on to Paradise on New Earth, or destroyed in the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20 and 21).
Deism: this is a philosophy about the origin of the universe, by way of God. Deists believe that it was God who created the universe and the laws of nature, set everything in motion, and lets the universe follow a natural path governed by those laws. God does not need to intervene or “steer the cosmic ship,” so to speak.
The deistic view of creation is fully compatible with modern science. God would have been the catalyst that set off the Big Bang. God would be the creator of the genetic code found in DNA. God would be the architect behind the complexity of the universe, as evident by the Fine-tuned Universe Theory.
While it is true that deists typically reject the idea that holy books were received through divine revelation, it is equally important to understand why. If you look at the Bible, you will find numerous verses that treat women as property, or, at best, second class citizens. It is glaringly obvious that the Bible was written by chauvinistic men, long ago.
I even made a separate post about this very topic:
Christopher Finch’s answer to Why do so many verses in the Bible seem to have a negative attitude toward women?
Deists also believe in free will. We make our own choices and deal with the consequences, good or bad. If God intervenes, then it is no longer free will; it becomes divine intervention. Free will also explains why bad things happen to good people.
Criminals make free will choices to commit crimes, and those crimes affect others in a negative way. Natural events, such as a tornado or earthquake, can injure or kill people.
People choose to live in “tornado alley,” or on fault lines.
Decisions made by parents can affect their children.
Deism is a philosophy that believes in God,
but rejects the aspects of divine revelation and intervention. It is not a religion in that it lacks an official church, priest caste, holy book, and specific dogma. The foundations of organized religion are an anathema to deism.
Nor is deism a type of theism. The common ground of theistic religions is the belief that God takes some interest in the world and is actively involved with it. This would include divine intervention, revelation and miracles. Deists reject those, along with all holy books that are “inspired by God.” Deists do not claim to know the characteristics of God, or view God as humanesque.
Many deists will say that God is an unknown entity.
Deists do have a working definition of God, unlike many theistic religions:
An eternal, transcendent force with divine intelligence, as the first cause;
the architect behind the universe and natural laws.
Deists tend to agree with science, medicine and modern philosophy.
They often support concepts such as the Big Bang Theory, the Fine-tuned Universe Theory, and evolution. What separates them from atheists is that they attribute the cause of the Big Bang, and the natural laws that govern evolution, to God as the creator of the universe. Science can’t explain what caused the Big Bang, it can only take us up to a fraction of a millisecond just after. As for deists, we see design behind the universe, not randomness.
Then comes the big question of, “Why would God create the universe and then walk away?” Think of the universe like a clock. There is a clockmaker, and once that clock is set in motion, the maker does not have to control the movement of the hands. Everything works as designed. It could be that God is observing the universe, or perhaps off creating elsewhere in a multiverse. As for us, it is the deistic belief of free will that explains why God does not intervene. If God were to take control, then it would no longer be free will, but rather, divine will. Bad things happen because of natural events (tornado, hurricane) or because of human choice (murder, theft). What our ancestors did can echo for an eternity through genetics found in DNA.
Atheists and numerous scientists reject an invisible God, but, they accept the theory of invisible dark energy that permeates the universe. They hold that dark energy is the driving force behind cosmic expansion and acceleration. This theory is plausible given the study of red shift in star light from other galaxies, as that light is observable and we are in fact growing and speeding up in the universe. Deists accept this but pose a question on top of it: If that dark energy had a transcendent intelligence to it, would that not be the deistic concept of God? The answer is a resounding “Yes!” Mother Nature comes off as being exceptionally intelligent.
Do deists pray to God? We can and some do, but our prayers are not asking for anything (aka please cure this sickness). Instead, we give thanks for life and honor God as the creator. Whether or not God hears us, or even cares, is of no concern.
Addendum: for more information about Deism
Christopher Finch · Follow
PhD Theology, Historian, Drummer, Stargazer, Deist Updated 5y
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What do religious people think of deism?
As a former Southern Baptist turned deist, numerous people have asked me about deism.
I find most have never heard of it, or don’t really understand it. Once I start explaining deism and my views of nature/cosmos, more times than not those same people agree with me!
Christianity is severely flawed.
Heck, any Earthbound, man made religion is flawed because of the human element. We have a tendency to screw things up, or exaggerate circumstances. When we can’t explain something, so many of us automatically jump to a supernatural explanation. The biggest problem is that the major Earth religions were invented long ago, before telescopes and microscopes came into the picture.
We now know that the Earth is not the center of creation (thanks Galileo!). Humans are not the pinnacle of creation, and the odds are stacked against us that Earth is the only planet with life on it. Ancient man that wrote what would become the Bible, did not know these things. They stood on the ground, looked at the sky and came up with stories to explain what they saw. Geocentricity was such a concept.
Others will question why God would create the universe and then walk away. Who said that God walked away? Perhaps God is watching to see how everything plays out. Perhaps God grieves when bad things happen. So why then would God create and then not get involved? Free will. If God intervenes, then it is no longer free will but divine will. Or it could be that God is some type of energy force with a transcendent intelligence. We don’t know, and any religious person that says otherwise is just being foolish.
So why deism?
Because I believe in a Creator, but it has nothing to do with the Genesis account. If there was a Big Bang, it would be God that set it off. If evolution is true (and I believe in it), then it would be God that designed the laws of nature and set everything in motion. DNA would be the divine language, and it is so complex that the odds of it forming randomly are practically impossible. Science, which I agree with, takes us 90% of the way to answering our questions. The deistic concept of God fills in the missing 10%.
I find that man made religions have a tendency to cause more harm than good. Wars are fought in God’s name. People are slaughtered for righteous causes. The promise of a reward in Heaven/Paradise/Valhalla/Happy Hunting Ground/etc., has caused a great many people to do really diabolical things.
On the other hand, deism simply states that an individual believes in God based on their observations of nature and/or the cosmos. Whether or not they are a moral person has nothing to do with their religious beliefs. Deism is not biased, prejudice or judgmental. We don’t have contradictory, man made holy books, and we don’t let stories from thousands of years ago replace our God given ability to think and reason.
So, how do you tie the two together in order to come up with Christian Deism?
A Christian Deist is one that follows Jesus’ commandments of “Love God, Love People,” studies the Bible with the understanding that the stories are mostly metaphorical and/or allegorical (they teach lessons), can participate in communion as a ceremony of symbolism, can receive baptism as a public profession of faith in Jesus’ teachings and that they have accepted to walk that path in life, and believing that living as a compassionate, moral person will allow them to pass a judgment based on their deeds, should that be the case.
Likewise, the Christian Deist can accept that science, medicine and technology are able to explain what our ancient ancestors could not have known; that the Earth is not the center of creation, and that the Church has a tendency to use various aspects of doctrine as a control mechanism. Christian Deists are free thinkers, have a tendency to ask questions, and are not complacent to just blindly accept what they are told by members of the clergy. God gave us intelligence; we should use it.
When it comes to prayer, it’s kind of nonsensical to ask for things.
If God is all knowing and all powerful, then He knows what you need before you ever ask for it. Since you are a devout believer, why should asking be a requirement in order to receive a blessing? A loving Father should give that freely. I do toward my children. That’s not to say you can’t offer prayers of gratitude to God for the blessings that you do receive.
Besides, divine intervention through prayer, violates free will.
You can’t change the consequences of something. I am sure that plenty of amputees have asked for a miracle regrowing of a limb, but, none have ever had that miracle happen. Likewise for the nine million children that die every year. Those deaths are the direct result of a choice that was made, whether it be a criminal’s, parent’s, or ancestor’s. Genetics can echo for an eternity.
That is what it means to be a non denominational, Christian Deist. Oh, and if you are wondering, Christian Deism is not anything new. Several of the Founding Fathers of the USA were, in fact, Christian Deists, and even stated as much. Others rejected the Church completely, and identified as a straight Deist.
That list, to varying degrees, includes Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, James Monroe, James Madison, and even George Washington. You will not find ‘Christian’ or ‘Jesus’ written anywhere in the US Constitution or the Declaration of Independence. The USA was not founded as a Christian nation, but rather, a nation that provided religious freedom…which includes freedom from religion for any individual.
Deism flourished amongst the American Founding Fathers and other intellectuals for a while…Then died out. I’ve wondered why and have done some research on this. And have some ideas.
First, Classical Deism as I call it is really a World View not a religion/theology/philosophy/spirituality.
Second, Deism gets a lot of suppression and discrimination.
Not sure about this? It’s easily proved.
Go to a bookstore like I did over 20 years ago. Pull all of the books about Thomas Jefferson off the bookshelves and carry them to a table and stack them. They will be heavy and you may have to make multiple trips. I had 11 books that I found and stacked. Some of these books will be biographies of Jefferson, others about the Founding Fathers of America.
Now, take each book and look in their index for the terms “deism” and “deist”. If/when you do not find any such entries in a book put it into “Stack A”. If/when you do find at least one entry, put it into “Stack B”. When I did this many years ago out of 11 books, 9 went into Stack A and only 2 went into Stack B. You may have similar results.
Now, take a look at the contents of Stack A first. Note that the biographies of Thomas Jefferson will always talk about his election as President. But take a good look and note that there is no mention of him being a Deist…And that this was the BIG campaign issue! Curious that the BIG campaign issue, and such a fundamental aspect of Jefferson’s life is…Never mentioned?!
Now, turn to Stack B.
Using the Index entries for “deism” and “deist”, track down each index page entry and see what it says. And how much space is devoted to discussion of these two terms. When I did this for the only two books in Stack B, I was sorely disappointed that they were mentioned and maybe had 1/2 a page for one or two of the entries. Which I do not think does this important aspect of Jefferson’s life and Presidency justice.
Historical omission? Or deliberate oversight?
In my own life, I’ve had quite a bit of discrimination from managers when/if they find
out I’m not a Christian but rather a Deist. When I was at AT&T this became enough of a problem in one position that my coworkers noticed it but not enough direct evidence to go to HR with it. Although in hindsight, I wish that had.
Number #1…Many Christians don’t like “competition” to their beliefs. I am open minded…But many people actually are not. And look at Deism as something that by its very nature as “attacking” their beliefs.
That’s Number #2…And I think that it’s a very big problem that is held below the surface by those doing it.
And Number #3…Deism is really a World View. And as such isn’t really meant to Answer all the many Questions of Life, Love, the Afterlife, etc. It also is really a Mind perspective and seems to preclude Heart and also Soul. So much so that it seems just too “limited”, “empty”, or “without Heart” to many people I suspect.
And thus…Deism seemed to die out. Although nowadays there are a few good people still “waving the banner/flag”. And I suspect, as others do, that millions of people are walking around being Deists…But not yet knowing it.
This is what happened to me over twenty years ago. When I worked at Lucent a coworker asked Mahdu and I what our religions were. He was a very good man, there was nothing nefarious about his question. He was just curious. Mahdu answered Hindu and I said that I wasn’t anything. He then proceeded to ask me a few questions and then said, “You’re a Deist!” “A what? What’s a Deist?” I responded. And he explained it briefly and simply.
That night after work I stopped at the local Barnes and Noble and went to the counter and asked the person to look up “Deism” in Books in Print. This was before Amazon.com. And she found some entries.
And found the book “The American Deists” by Kerry Walters.
It is now out of print, but he has published a similar book titled,
“Revolutionary Deists” which is available.
So that day was quite an important and turning point for me.
I went from “I’m nothing” to “I’m a Deist!”
And I’ve been reading and researching Deism and other interesting topics since then.
I’ve developed a new perspective on Deism that I call “Sentient Deism – The Ultimate Worldview” and am writing a book on it. In it, I think that I can bridge/develop Deism
into a comprehensive World View and also touch upon and bridge to both Religion and Spirituality. And thus, I hope, will “fix” #1 and #3 problems above.
Fixing the #2 problem will come when more/most people know about Deism in general and its wonderful and important history with our American Founding Fathers…And can no longer ignore it or “sweep it under the rug”.
What are some arguments for deism?
I find myself drawn more to Deism over time. Revealed religions all have one central flaw: at some point, some human had to communicate with God. Whether through meditation, inspiration, or direct conversation, every religious founder claims to have touched God mentally and communicated his thoughts to you. You are relying on their testimony that God spoke to them and wants you to follow them.
These revealed religions are often cloaked with the mists of time, making it hard to get real evidence for their claims. The more recently created religions, like Scientology, JWs, Mormonism, 7th Day Adventists, etc. all are easy to poke holes in because they are too modern and leave too much evidence of their fabrication. Religious leaders have too much vested interest in you buying their product to be much more credible than McCann Erickson selling you Coke.
That leaves you with Atheism, Agnosticism and Deism. I was agnostic for a long time, and still am to some degree. However, studying the world and the universe, it seems unlikely that it just sprung together out of nothing. Atheism is too nihilistic for my tastes, and leaves gaping holes in our understanding of the whys and hows of the universe.
The Deistic idea of a creator who makes the universe and lets it run its own course makes a lot more sense to me than a meddling, capricious, insecure God constantly begging for worship and adoration. God doesn’t even have to be a corporeal being, maybe just a force, and probably not anthropomorphic. That’s just our own vanity trying to comprehend him.
What are some flaws in Deism?
There are two flaws found in Deism:
There is no way to prove that our concept of God is true, at this point in time.
However, no one can prove that our concept is wrong, either. Given what we know about science and nature, compounded by the fact that the world can be a wicked place that is full of death, suffering and heinous acts, the case for God would come closer to deism rather than theism.
Deists do not really proselytize, so, a great many people that would probably identify as a deist, have never heard of deism. They continue with whatever religious tradition they belong to, for lack of options or understanding. Many do so because it is expected of them based on culture, family, or the community in which they live.
We are striving to prove #1, and to change #2.
What is God According to Deism?
Great question, and one that many religions don’t actually answer. They lack a clear definition of God. Sure, they have this idea that God is a “Big Sky Daddy” full of love, but they also make God into an immortal, human male. I find it a bit nonsensical to think that God is human in appearance, given that the universe is a massive place, and our little planet is one out of trillions found within the cosmos.
The reason that many world religions have portrayed God as a humanesque male is because those religions were invented during a time when male chauvinism ruled the day. That mentality still exists in certain parts of the world. There’s no way that they would have conceived the Supreme Being as female, who were considered property.
Likewise, the reason that God is conceptualized as human-like is because humans have anthropomorphized what God looks like, based on older mythologies. It does not matter if it is Sumerian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, or Norse mythology, the gods and goddesses were all human-looking. The question is, why? The answer is just as simple.
Back then, the Earth was thought of as the center of creation. Those people stood on the ground, looked up at the sky, and it appeared as if everything in the cosmos revolved around them. They had no idea that the rising and setting of our Sun and Moon was because the Earth rotated. That ancient concept is called geocentricity. Galileo proved that it was wrong by way of a telescope.
So, if you believed in geocentricity and you knew that humans are the only species on the planet that do what we do (compared to other animals), then it made sense that the gods and goddesses would be viewed as human as well. That, and the fact that it was humans that were making up the stories about the gods and goddesses. No other animal or species on the planet does that.
So, what is God according to Deism? Certainly not a “Big Sky Daddy” that is full of love, with an evil arch enemy that can be blamed for all the bad stuff that happens. Neither is God an immortal human. Deists tend to look at the bigger cosmic picture, and not get tunnel vision with Earth being the central focus. No, according to Deists, God is:
An eternal, transcendent force with divine intelligence, as the first cause; the architect behind the universe and natural laws.
At no point do Deists make any type of claim as to the physical characteristics of God, nor do they give God human emotions. What exactly would that “force” be? We have no idea. The term “force” is the best descriptor that we can use at this time.
So, why does the universe need a creator or an architect?
Because of the complexity found within the universe in order for it to exist. It appears to be fine-tuned, and even atheistic astronomers and cosmologists have stated as much (without mentioning God). If you want a “closer to Earth” explanation, then look no further than human DNA. Our bodies are made up of trillions of cells, and each cell contains the bases adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine (ATCG). Each cell contains a DNA line of code that is over three BILLION letters long! Talk about complexity…
Do you really think that Mother Nature,
without any type of intelligence, came up with that randomly?
That we just happened to have a chance? It is doubtful. That’s why Deists believe in God as the architect behind the universe and the laws of nature that govern it, but we stop there.
Source: Is deism the best religion? – Quora
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