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Deism

Rachel Munro

Early America: U.S. History

25 February 2018
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Rachel Munro

Early America – U.S. History

Professor Deborah Zuccarini

25 February 2018

Deism

Hellen Keller states, “Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true

happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.”

This quote is an example of deism. Deism is similar to a religious belief that was seen in the

seventeenth and eighteenth century. The eighteenth century was the era of The Age of Reason.

Because deism was so popular in the Enlightenment period and the Great Awakening, it is

important to understand what deism is, how deism began, and why is deism significant to this

time in history.

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, deism is “a movement or system of thought

advocating natural religion, emphasizing morality, and in the 18th century denying the

interference of the Creator with the law of the universe.” Deism is an idea that religion derives

from nature and human reasoning rather than God (Staloff, 1). This movement spoke out about

many things involving religion. Deism believes that God does exist, but after creation God does

not involve himself with His creation. They believed that Christ was not God, in essence all the

religions are the same; therefore, people should be accepting of all regions. Deism relates

religion to the scientific method created by Francis Bacon (“The Age of Reason, The

Enlightenment And Deism” 4-5). Now that it is understood what deism is, how this movement

began is essential.
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Many people claim that deism began with one man—Lord Edward Herbert of Cherbury.

It started erupting around the late 1600s. Lord Edward Herbert of Cherbury began creating

deistic beliefs (Shaloff 1). His thoughts were because of his discontentment with the Christian

Church. He had five main concepts; they were called the “Common Notions”: “there is a

Supreme God; this Sovereign Deity ought to be worshiped; the connection of Virtue and Piety…

is and always has been held to be the most important part of religious practice; the minds of men

have always been filled with horror of their wickedness, their vices and crimes have been

obvious to them, they must be expiated by repentance; and there is a reward and punishment

after this life.” (Clendenen 1). Lord Edward Herbert of Cherbury ignited the spark of deism, and

that spark carried into a significant flame in the eighteenth century.

The Enlightenment era was full of new ideas and people’s ability to freely think their

own opinion about religion. Many well-known enlightenment thinkers had similar ideas to

deism, such as John Locke and Thomas Paine. John Locke did not claim himself as a Deist;

however, some of his views were incoherence with deism. He did not believe in the trinity,

which is also rejected by deists. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding and The

Reasonableness of Christianity sparked a rising of Deism (“Deism is Not s Specific Religion;

But Rather a Singular View on the Nature of God” 3). The author of The Age of Reason, Thomas

Paine, was a deist who brought the deistic believes to America. Although later he was harshly

criticized, Thomas Paine did enlighten a new way of thinking about religion (Clendenen, 1).

The Enlightenment era was so rich with religious diversity and deism emerged in this

period; thus, it is beneficial to comprehend what is deism, how was deism started, and why it was

important. Deism is a religious movement in the seventeenth and eighteenth century; its main

idea is that religion does not come from God or the Bible, but rather from human reasoning.
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Deism can trace its origins back to Lord Edward Herbert of Cherbury. Lastly, popular

enlightenment thinkers like John Locke and Thomas Paine shared deistic ideas.
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Works Cited

Clendenen, Chuck. “A Brief History of Deism.” Spiritual But Not Religious. Accessed 23

February 2018. http://www.sbnr.org/a-brief-history-of-deism.html

“Deism is Not s Specific Religion; But Rather a Singular View on the Nature of God.” The

Deism Center. Accessed 23 February 2018. http://deismcenter.org/deism-in-england-

and-france-in-the-18th-century/

Staloff, Darren. “Deism and the Founding of the United States.” Divining America,

TeacherServe©. National Humanities Center. Accessed 20 February 2018.

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/eighteen/ekeyinfo/deism.htm

“The Age of Reason, The Enlightenment And Deism.” The World Internet Bible College.

Accessed 23 February 2018.

http://internetbiblecollege.net/lessons/the%20age%20of%20reason,%20the%20enlighten

ment%20and%20deism.htm
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Annotated Bibliography

Clendenen, Chuck. “A Brief History of Deism.” Spiritual But Not Religious. Accessed 23

February 2018. http://www.sbnr.org/a-brief-history-of-deism.html

Chuck Clendenen’s article “A Brief History of Deism” discusses the beginnings of

deism. It mentions Lord Edward Herbert of Cherbury and what his belief are. Then Clendenen

writes on how Lord Edward Herbert of Cherbury’s beliefs impacted the religion based on his

five “Common Notions.” Next, there are various deists of significance listed: Charles Blount,

John Toland, Matthew Tindal, Thomas Morgan, Henry St. John, Thomas Chubb, Peter Annet,

Dr. Thomas Young, Ethan Allen, Thomas Paine, and Elihu Palmer. Lastly, the article ends with

deism’s influence in the nineteenth and twentieth century. The author of this article is among the

founders of Unified Deism and a member of Deist Alliance. He also wrote a deistic book.

Therefore, he must have extensive knowledge on the topic, so I believe that this article is a

reliable source.

“Deism is Not s Specific Religion; But Rather a Singular View on the Nature of God.” The

Deism Center. Accessed 23 February 2018. http://deismcenter.org/deism-in-england-

and-france-in-the-18th-century/

“Deism is Not s Specific Religion; But Rather a Singular View on the Nature of God”

Does not have an author, thus it may not be a good source. However, at the bottom of the page

there is notes and sources from where the information was found. I was able to use some helpful

information. This article talks about what deism is, some advantages to this movement, some

misconceptions of deism, some qualities, and history of it in the eighteenth century. This article

also mentions deists such as John Locke, Lord Edward Herbert of Cherbury, John Toland,
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Anthony Collins, Simon Tyssot de Patot, Jean Meslier, Voltaire, Peter Gay, C.J. Betts, and

Jonathan Israel.

Staloff, Darren. “Deism and the Founding of the United States.” Divining America,

TeacherServe©. National Humanities Center. Accessed 20 February 2018.

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/eighteen/ekeyinfo/deism.htm

“Deism and the Founding of the United States” converses the definition of deism and its beliefs.

It describes in great detail the history during the seventeenth and eighteenth century, significant

figures of deism, and various written pieces used to spread the influence of deism. The author of

this article is Darren Staloff. He is a history professor at the City College of New York and the

Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He has also written and published many

pieces concerning history and the enlightenment era. Thus, his article can be a reliable source.

“The Age of Reason, The Enlightenment And Deism.” The World Internet Bible College.

Accessed 23 February 2018.

http://internetbiblecollege.net/lessons/the%20age%20of%20reason,%20the%20enlighte

nment%20and%20deism.htm

“The Age of Reason, The Enlightenment And Deism” does not specify an author, but it

does show a souse of where the information is derived from. Consequently, this cannot be

confirmed as a reliable source. First, the article talks about The Age of Reason—what it is, its

teachings, and how it developed into deism. The Age of Enlightenment is then discussed; it

emphasizes on its main feature, and then discussed the bad effects of the Enlightenment age.

Then, Deism is conversed. It gives a brief introduction of what deism is, then jumps into what
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deism taught and believed. Lastly, the article shows a mixture of truth and myth, which explains

the various beliefs in the seventeenth and eighteenth century.