Deism

Deism is the belief that a supreme being, such as a god, created the universe but does not intervene in its affairs. Deists, or those who subscribe to deism, deny the existence of all supernatural aspects of traditional Christianity, including miracles, prophecies, angels, demons, and divinely revealed scriptures, such as the Bible. Instead, deists uphold human reasoning and the laws of the natural world as the only revelations God ever delivered to the universe.

Deism arose during the Enlightenment of the 1600s in England. The Enlightenment was a period of Western European history, lasting from the late 1600s to the early 1800s, in which human knowledge of science and philosophy advanced considerably. Various European philosophers began doubting the mystical elements of Christianity because they did not stand up to logic. Several of the Founding Fathers of the United States, particularly Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, notably held deist or deist-influenced beliefs in the 1700s and 1800s. The popularity of deism began to decline in the mid-1800s.

Background

One of the first printed appearances of the deism concept is believed to have been in the work De Veritate (formally, in English, On Truth, as it is Distinguished from Revelation, the Probable, the Possible, and the False) by the English philosopher Lord Edward Herbert of Cherbury in 1624. Herbert had conceived of the religious ideas in this treatise against the backdrop of the Protestant Reformation (1517–1648), which had begun in Western Europe in the early 1500s.

The Reformation saw the German Christian theologian Martin Luther break away from the Roman Catholic Church due to its corruption and its rigid insistence on its own authority to define proper Christian dogma. Luther preached a reformed Christianity that ultimately became Lutheranism and led to various other denominations of Protestantism. The Protestant Reformation later sparked political and religious divisions in England.

Herbert hoped his religious philosophy of deism would unite all the conflicting Christian sects, since it combined traditional Christian belief with contemporary rationalism. Herbert's version of deism claimed God definitely existed because the universe existed; all matter must have a cause, meaning God must have created the universe. Herbert argued that humans were expected to praise their creator, regret their mistakes, and try to improve themselves so they would be rewarded in the afterlife. Herbert thought this rational philosophy would be supremely attractive to religious people everywhere, but few paid attention to deism during his lifetime.

Deism, as a more fully formed religious philosophy, truly began to flourish in Europe during the Enlightenment of the 1600s and 1700s. Europeans who considered themselves freethinkers of this era began questioning aspects of Christian teaching that seemed to contradict what humans knew about the natural world from studying science and philosophy. These individuals felt that human reason was the final authority on confirming truths about the universe. To them, even long-held religious beliefs should be investigated with rational inquiry.

Deists eventually dismissed all the supernatural claims of Christianity as irrational and contrary to the established laws of nature. The Christian tenets rejected by deists included miracles, prophecies and signs from God, the creation story of Adam and Eve, original sin, the holiness and resurrection of Jesus, and the idea of the Bible as the divinely inspired word of God. To the deists, these beliefs were illogical and should not even be considered by rational people.

Nonetheless, the deists did not deny the existence of God. Like Herbert, they believed that if everything had a cause and the universe existed, then God must have created the universe. However, this was the extent of God's involvement in human affairs. The God of deism had made the universe and then retreated to a distant place, never to be heard from again.

In later centuries, philosophers compared the concepts of deism to a watchmaker making a watch. The watchmaker represents God, who establishes the universe's laws of nature just as the watchmaker sets the gears that will allow the watch to operate on its own. The watchmaker then winds the watch and leaves it alone, since it will work independently based on its creator's design. In deism, this is the only role God plays in human existence.

Overview

Deism was a popular religious philosophy in England and America in the 1700s and early 1800s. In the twenty-first century, many historical discussions of deism include examinations of the religious beliefs of the Founding Fathers of the United States, several of whom were dedicated deists.

Benjamin Franklin, for instance, discovered various anti-deist books when he was about fifteen years old. He later claimed that the books' arguments against deism had actually persuaded him to become a deist, since deism made sense to him in ways that other approaches to Christianity did not.

Thomas Jefferson is often held up as a deist, though he never referred to himself as such, and his religious beliefs are not entirely clear. His views on Christianity tended toward deism, though. Jefferson once told a nephew that God, if he existed, had to be subjected to human reason. Jefferson also famously took a razor to the four Gospels of the Bible—the Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John that tell the narrative of Jesus's life—and cut out all references to miracles and other supernatural occurrences. His point in doing this was to produce a version of Jesus's teachings untainted by centuries of fantastical claims by Christianity. Jefferson hoped his Bible would reconcile adherence to the words of Jesus with being a rational thinker of the nineteenth century.

George Washington may also have been a deist, but his guardedness about his personal religious views has obscured the truth of this from historians. Washington likely believed in a supreme being who created the universe and whose will guided events in the world. Simultaneously, Washington felt that this being would forever remain a mystery to humans.

Deism started falling out of favor as a religious philosophy around the mid-1800s. This may have been due to the appearance of increasingly liberal philosophies that questioned whether God had ever actually existed. In the twenty-first century, the subject of deism appeared mostly in debates about the religious beliefs of the Founding Fathers, specifically concerning whether they were Christians who believed and followed the Bible’s teachings or deists who believed in God but opposed religion. Some modern organizations continue to promote Deism, such as The World Union of Deists and the Church of the Modern Deist. These organizations are appealing as a middle ground between atheism and organized religion.

Bibliography

Breig, James. "Deism." Colonial Williamsburg Journal, research.colonialwilliamsburg.org/Foundation/journal/Spring09/deism.cfm. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.

Chater, Kathleen. "What Was the Reformation?" History Extra, www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/what-was-reformation-henry-viii-break-rome-catholic-protestant-martin-luther-guide-facts-origins. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.

"Deism: Traditional & Contemporary." Philosophy Now, 2022, philosophynow.org/issues/152/Deism‗Traditional‗and‗Contemporary. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.

"Jefferson's Religious Beliefs." Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/jeffersons-religious-beliefs. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.

Staloff, Darren. "Deism and the Founding of the United States." National Humanities Center, nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/eighteen/ekeyinfo/deism.htm. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.

Tsakiridis, George. "George Washington and Religion." George Washington's Mount Vernon, www.mountvernon.org/digital-encyclopedia/article/george-washington-and-religion. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.