DEISM DENIES BIBLICAL DEITIES

DEISM DENIES BIBLICAL DEITIES

Friday, June 29, 2018

Genesis [ESV] 3:1Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" [Also note Isaiah chapter 55, Jn.5:24, 8:31, 37, 43; Rev.3:8]

The view which the rising greatness of our country presents to my eyes, is greatly tarnished by the general prevalence of deism, which, with me, is but another name for vice and depravity. P. Henry, Wirys Sketches. (Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)

  There are a few variations, but basically deism is the belief that a God exists subject to individual interpretation of who and what he is and that he designed and created the world including living beings and without further involvement then stepped back to see what would develop. This dovetails with the open view of God: That He, like us, is a developing personality, including surprised by what people do.

  GotQuestions.org describes deism as believing God created the clock, wound it up and let it go. A friend once said “Deists believe God laid an egg and watched to see what would hatch.”

  Some of the most influential USA founding fathers and later leaders were/are deists. But the philosophy did not begin with them. Deism is inherent to Adam and Eve’s original sin. It was popularized by intellectuals during the Age of Enlightenment, (1600 – 1700’s) which itself developed out of the Renaissance period, on through the Age of Reason/Age of Rationalism (early 1600’s). One deist founding father of this nation in publishing his The Age of Reason (1793-94) greatly assisted popularizing deistic philosophy in America and Europe.  Deism strongly influenced the development of congregational Unitarianism and Universalism. Deism very much continues to influence government and education today. Deism is disseminated by Alcoholics Anonymous and recovery groups of such breed (Steps 2, 3 & 11note below).

  The great calamity of deism is it denies deity and decisive truth; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit’s ever present involvement and activity now and forevermore. As with the serpent’s challenge it rejects sola scriptura, God’s Word as His preeminent record and message to mankind for our edification and consideration of Christ’ redemption and our purpose in insightful lifework; at best considering it possibly helpful philosophy or lore to be referenced or considered.

  How now shall we think? In what ways does deism influence my or your life? If so, what is to be done that will improve our walk to mature integrity pleasing our Lord?  EBB4

For the diggers: http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/deism.html#e8SaUK0Kb2sm

A.A. Steps 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. 11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

Note: Wikipedia provides a partial list of historically influential deists.