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Deism

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Deism (from Latin deus, god) is the belief that God created the universe but does not actively operate within it. Deism developed in England and France during the 17th and 18th centuries as an attempt to develop a natural religion in harmony with the scientific ideas of the Enlightenment.

The term deism is often further restricted to a movement in England which began in the 17th century and flourished during the first half of the 18th century; was characterized by a strong aversion from Christianity, and a belief in the light of nature and reason as a sufficient guide in doctrine and practice.

The deists were influenced by the scientific work of Isaac Newton and the philosophy of John Locke. Leading deist philosophers in England were Lord Herbert of Cherbury (regarded as 'the father of English Deism') and John Toland. Voltaire became acquainted with their views while he was in England, and together with Rousseau and the Encyclopedists he used deist theories to attack the French church and government. Thomas Jefferson and some other statesmen who greatly influenced the American system of government were deists. Others prominent in the movement were Charles Blount, Matthew Tindal, William Wollaston, Thomas Woolston, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, Viscount Bolingbroke, and Anthony Collins.

Deists claimed that the laws of nature could have been established only by a Supreme Intelligence. However, they believed that these mechanical laws, and not acts of divine will, determine the operation of nature. Deists rejected the rituals of organized religion and the doctrine that God revealed Himself through Christ, the Bible, or miracles. The deist point of view is. similar to that of a freethinker, who also advocates dependence on reason, and differs from theism chiefly by its rejection of revelation.