Metacrock's Blog: What is and what is not Deism

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

What is and what is not Deism

Image result for Lord Herbert of Cherbury

Lord Herbert of Cherbury (1583-1648)

This essay deals primarily with what is called "English Deism," I will simply call it "Deism" because it seems this is what most people mean when they use that term. Many times in my apologetics I argue that God need only allow the laws of nature that he created to play out he need not intervene as much a we think he should. Skeptics often try to negate this argument by calling it "Deism," The purpose of this essay is to show that my view is not Deism,

The basic hall marks of Deism are two things: (1) the notion that reason is the only proper basis of knowledge, and (2) that God is not involved in the world.[1] This philosophy tends to be very anti supernatural. The great heyday of Deism was the enlightenment as it reflects the major interests of that time. Major names include John Toland, Shaftesbury, Anthony Collins. Lord Herbert of Cherbury to name a few.Deism arose in England during the seventeenth century and is fully embodied in the works of Lord Herbert of Cherbury (d.1648).

It has been defined:

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.[2]

again: "Deism is a form of Monotheism in which it is believed that one God exists, but that this God does not intervene in the world, or interfere with human life and the laws of the universe. It posits a non-interventionist creator who permits the universe to run itself according to natural laws." [3]

A major example of how I have been accessed of deism comes from a badly thought out attack by the atheist "pixie," He was making thoughtless accusations about God such as:

Pix: "So tell me why God chooses to inflict disability and cancer on innocent children."[4]

I argued that God does not decide who will get what disease that process is pretty much random as atheists and naturalistic imagine it to be. After come discussion in this vain he responded with passages which he asserted say that God decides our very physical characteristics individually:

Joe: that does not say God gave me brown hair rather than blond. or God chose I would be 5.8. The inmost being is the spirit not the body, God could have done this by creating the laws that govern genetics,

Pixie: It says exactly that. Compare the Psalm with these verses:

Jeremiah 1:5 I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.

Isaiah 44:24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,who formed you from the womb:[5]

After some discussion that these passages do not say God chose the physical characteristics of the prophet and no passage says God gives children cancer. He does allow them to get it no argument there but he does not actively distribute diseases. Thus says the Lord of hosts, "Little Andy didn't eat his peas gotta give him cancer." At that point he asserts that the view that such things are just random is deism and be consistent with a Christian view:

Pixie: The Biblical view is that God created each of us in the womb. The deist view is that god set everything in motion, then let the universe unfurl. "God could have done this by creating the laws that govern genetics" is deism.[6]

Pixie is assuming that since Deism sees God as removed and the universe allowed to run on it's own than any theology which sees God as allowing the universe to run interdependently is Diesm, But Deism rejected all intervention of God most especially miracles. My theology says God created the universe to run by natural law but he is far from disinterested.

First, I do believe that there may be times when God does intervene.That does not mean that God must prop up every aspect of nature. Secondly I think God is more involved in the supernatural aspects of reality, Far from meaning that he doesn't care it means he cares very deeply about the most important thing, our eternal destiny, God is concomitantly trying to steer us toward the realization of his love. But that must be a free will decision That is the antithesis of Deism, It shares only one thing in common with Deism, God allows the physical universe to run on its own, but even that I don't claim is absolute.

This view is antithetical to Deism in three ways:

(1) God's attitude, caring

(2) It places God's involvement i the world center stage

(3) It roots God's inclement in the world in the Supernatural