What Is Deism?

Deism is both a religious and philosophical belief in the existence of a god or "Supreme Architect" who created the universe.
For the most part, god is thought to be defined only by means observable in nature.
History
1. Deism became prominent during the 17th and 18th centuries during the Age of Enlightenment. Often those raised
as Christians could not come to terms with the divinity of Jesus, the belief in miracles and the holy trinity. In
reaction to this and the growing beliefs for the need of empirical evidence to prove that something exists (the
foundations of scientific research), deism spread.
Significance
Examples of Deism updated: September 3, 2010
Deists believe in the existence of God through nature.
Deists believe in God. They just don't believe in God way that "revealed" religions do. Deists consider revealed
religions to be Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Deism rejects the idea that religions have any special divine
revelation, and they reject the use of holy books. Their belief in God stems from the structure of the universe. If
the Deists were to have a religious book, it would probably be Thomas Paine's "The Age of Reason."
Deist Philosophy
1. Deists believe that a universal force greater than man created nature. According to the World Union of Deists,
every human possesses God-given reason. God and religion are not the same things to Deists. Churches are human
inventions that often are misused for power and profit. Deists believe it's wrong for people to suspend their God-
given reason to accept notions like original sin, healing the sick without medical care and walking on water.
Instead of believing in God through faith, deists believe in God through reason.
Deist View of Death
2. Fear of death is a big motivator for some people to subscribe to a particular religion, according to the World Union
of Deists. Different religions have varying opinions on what will happen after death. Deists teach that no one
knows for sure what happens after death and that we should not worry about it. People should work to improve
the Earth and to enjoy it while here.
Deist View of God
3. Deists don't believe God kills babies or that Jesus raised the dead, as depicted in the Old and New Testaments.
Instead, Deists believe in a more simple and nondogmatic God. They refer to God as a he or a she, believing that
societies that characterize God as a man relegate women to a lesser standing.
Focus on the Positive
4. Deists do not believe in blaming God for life's horrors, such as disease, war and disasters. Rather, they believe it is
in people's power to eliminate or neutralize atrocities. For example, by studying nature, humans found cures for
disease. Deists envision a world in which cooperation will make warfare obsolete.
ideal·ism (ī dē′əl iz′əm) noun
1. behavior or thought based on a conception of things as they should be or as one would wish them to be; idealization
2. a striving to achieve one's ideals
3. imaginative treatment in art that seeks to show the artist's or author's conception of perfection; representation of
imagined types, or ideals
4. PHILOS. any of various theories which hold that:
a. things exist only as ideas in the mind rather than as material objects independent of the mind
b. things in the material world are actually manifestations of an independent realm of unchanging, immaterial
models or forms
fi·de·ism (fē′dā iz′əm, fī′dē-) noun the view that everything that can be known with certainty about God or divine things is
known only or primarily by faith and never by reason alone
Immanuel Kant The major works of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) offer an analysis of speculative and
moral reason and the faculty of human judgment. He exerted an immense influence on the intellectual movements of the 19th
and 20th centuries. The fourth of nine children of Johann Georg and Anna Regina Kant, Immanuel Kant was born in the town of
Kö nigsberg on April 22, 1724. Johann Kant was a harness maker, and the large family lived in modest circumstances. The
family belonged to a Protestant sect of Pietists, and a concern for religion touched every aspect of their lives. Although Kant
became critical of formal religion, he continued to admire the "praiseworthy conduct" of Pietists. Kant's elementary education
was taken at Saint George's Hospital School and then at the Collegium Fredericianum, a Pietist school, where he remained from
1732 until 1740. In 1740 Kant entered the University of Kö nigsberg. Under the influence of a young instructor, Martin
Knutzen, Kant became interested in philosophy, mathematics, and the natural sciences. Through the use of Knutzen's private
library, Kant grew familiar with the philosophy of Christian Wolff, who had systematized the rationalism of Leibniz. Kant
accepted the rationalism of Leibniz and Wolff and the natural philosophy of Newton until a chance reading of David Hume
aroused him from his "dogmatic slumbers." The death of Kant's father in 1746 left him without income. He became a private
tutor for 7 years in order to acquire the means and leisure to begin an academic career. During this period Kant published
several papers dealing with scientific questions. The most important was the "General Natural History and Theory of the
Heavens" in 1755. In this work Kant postulated the origin of the solar system as a result of the gravitational interaction of
atoms. This theory anticipated Laplace's hypothesis (1796) by more than 40 years. In the same year Kant presented a Latin
treatise, "On Fire", to qualify for the doctoral degree. Kant spent the next 15 years (1755-1770) as a nonsalaried lecturer
whose fees were derived entirely from the students who attended his lectures. In order to live he lectured between 26 and 28
hours a week on metaphysics, logic, mathematics, physics, and physical geography. Despite this enormous teaching burden,
Kant continued to publish papers on various topics. He finally achieved a professorship at Kö nigsberg in 1770.
 : relating to or derived by reasoning from observed facts — compare A PRIORI
— a posteriori adverb
a : DEDUCTIVE b : relating to or derived by reasoning from self-evident propositions — compare A POSTERIORI c : presupposed by
experience a : being without examination or analysis : PRESUMPTIVE b : formed or conceived beforehand
— a priori adverb
— apri·or·i·ty\-ˈȯr-ə-tē\ noun