Naomi Diamante

History 151

16 February 2017

Deism

In this mini historical research paper, I will be discussing a religion that many people are

not familiar with. That religion is called Deism. According to Google, Deism is the belief in the

existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who does not intervene in the universe.

The term is used chiefly of an intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries that accepted

the existence of a creator on the basis of reason but rejected belief in a supernatural deity who

interacts with humankind. The word "Deism" is derived from the Latin word for God: "Deus."

Deism is a natural religion. It is different from other religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and

Islam. With those three religions, they are known to be top-down religions because their

revelations came from God who then passed it to a prophet who then taught humans. A natural

religion, such as Deism, is a bottom-up religion because they were created by humans about

God. Deists believe that God is real, on purely rational grounds and without any religious

authority or any kind of holy text. Deists do not believe that God revealed himself to humanity

through Hebrew Scriptures, Christian scriptures, the Qur'an, and/or other religious text.

Although, they do disagree with Atheists and the belief that there is not evidence or existence of

God. Deists believe that everything that exists has had a creator, from a television set, phone,

backpack, and street sign.

Lord Edward Herbert of Cherbury, a prominent English statesman and thinker, laid out

the basic Deist faith in a series of works beginning with De Veritate in 1624. Herbert was

reacting to the ongoing religious strife that happened in Europe. He hoped Deism would calm his
strife by offering a rational and universal ideology. He than established that since everything has

a cause, God must be acknowledged as the first cause of the universe itself. Despite his efforts,

Deism made little impact in England for most of the 17th century. It did not start to be popular

until the 18th century. Deistic thought was popular in colleges from the middle of the 18th into

the 19th century. It influenced males of the revolutionary generation. The three main categories

Americans of Christian background were influenced by were non-christian Deism, Cristian

Deism and Orthodox Christianity.

Deism drew from the powerful philosophical work of figures such as Jean-Jacques

Rousseau, Isaac Newton, Thomas Paine, and John Locke. John Locke's The Reasonableness of

Christianity, he clearly describes many doctrines of Deism. In the last section of his Essay, Locke

stated the main principle of deism by saying Reason must be our last judge and guide in

everything. In 1793, Thomas Paine wrote The Age of Reason in which he stated his views on

religion. In his book, Paine points out many of the contradictions in both the Old and New

testaments. According to Paine It is the duty of every true Deist to vindicate the moral justice of

God against the evils of the Bible." (Clark, 120)

To conclude, Deism is essentially the belief that God exists, but he is not directly

involved in the world. God is viewed as the great clockmaker who made the clock, mound it

up, then released it and let it go. Some of the most influential people believed and followed this

religion.
 Works Cited

"The American Enlightenment an Overview." The American Enlightenment an Overview. Web.

16 Feb. 2017.

"A Brief History of Deism." SBNR.org. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.

"Deism and the Founding Fathers." Armed and Dangerous. 18 July 2015. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.

"Deism: A Religion Whose Followers Believe in a God Who Created the Universe, Established

Its Rules of Behavior, Set It Going, Left, and Hasn't Been Seen Since." Deism: Its History,

Beliefs and Practices. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.

"The Founding Fathers, Deism, and Christianity." Encyclopdia Britannica. Encyclopdia

Britannica, Inc. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.