Deism

This episode is entitled, What is Zen Deism? Hello, I'm Jay Forrest.

Welcome to the Zen Deism Podcast.

Deism is the belief in an impersonal creator God who does not become involved in the day-to-day affairs of the world.

Now notice two important parts.

That is, no miracles, no infallible revelations, no prophecies, and no answered prayers.

But it's not just deism that I want to talk about.

It's Zen deism.

Now, the Zen part is important and should clue you into the fact that it merges Eastern and Western wisdom traditions.

General effect of false zeal.

Deists.

Fanatical idea of church reformers.

The Church of Rome.

God always leaves room for faith, because then the relationship is personal and different.

And so, dear Deist, you know, have you thought all the way through of trust and love yet? I wonder if there's something

there.

I heard you tease this apart a little bit in chapel this weekend, so I was thinking about that too, and...

This final episode is entitled, Why Deism Died Out.

Hello, I'm Jay Forrest.

Welcome to the Spiritual Deism Podcast.

Timothy Dwight, President of Yale from 1795, confronted rampant deism and infidelity among the students influenced by French revolutionary ideas and figures like Thomas Jefferson, whom many saw as a deist civil.

In 1802, his preaching sparked a revival, where two students first professed faith, igniting conversions among dozens more, eventually 80 of 160 students.

This was part of the Second Great Awakening hitting home.

Emotional faith swept aside cold rationalism, especially among everyday people of the frontier.

Deism was the child of the 18th century Enlightenment movement and the scientific revolution.

it does not seem necessary to pause to discuss the previous question whether god in his saving activities acts upon a plan that god acts upon a plan in all his activities and therefore also in his saving activities is already given in theism in the establishment of a personal god this question is closed for person means purpose precisely what distinguishes a person from a thing is that its modes of action are purposive that all it does is directed to an end and proceeds through the choice of means to that end even the deist therefore must allow that god has a plan we may no doubt imagine an extreme form of deism in which it may be contended that god does not concern himself at all with what happens in his universe that having created it he turns aside from it and lets it run its own course to any end that may happen to it without having himself given a thought to it it is needless to say however that no such extreme form of deism actually exists though strange to say there are some as we shall have occasion to observe who appear to think that in the particular matter of the salvation of man god does act much after this irresponsible fashion what the actual deist stands for is law he conceives that god commits his universe not to unforeseen and unprepared caprice but to law law which god has impressed on his universe and to the guidance of which he can safely leave his universe That is to say, even the deist conceives God to have a plan, a plan which embraces all that happens in the universe.

He differs with the theist only as to the modes of activity by which he conceives God to carry out this plan.

Deism involves a mechanical conception of the universe.

God has made a machine, and just because it is a good machine, he can leave it to work out, not its but his ends.

so we may make a clock and then just because it is a good clock leave it to tick off the seconds and point out the minutes and strike the hours and mark off the days of the month and turn up the phases of the moon and the accompanying tides and if we choose we may put in a comet which shall appear on the dial but once in the life of the clock not erratically but when and where and how we have arranged for it to appear the clock does not go its own way it goes our way the way which we have arranged for it to go and god's clock the universe goes not its way but his way as he has ordained for it grinding out the inevitable events with mechanical precision this is a great conception the deistic conception of law it delivers us from chance but it does so only to cast us into the cogged teeth of a machine it is therefore not the greatest conception the greatest conception is the conception of theism which delivers us even from law and places us in the immediate hands of a person it is a great thing to be delivered from the inordinate realm of aimless chance the goddess taiki fortuna was one of the most terrible divinities of the old world quite as terrible as and scarcely distinguishable from fate it is a great thing to be under the control of an intelligent purpose but it makes every difference whether the purpose is executed by mere law acting automatically or by the ever-present personal control of the person himself there is nothing more ordinate than the control of a person, all of whose actions are governed by intelligent purpose, directed to an end.

All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.

For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Steve Brown The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine Part 2, Section 21 Deism, then, teaches us, without the possibility of being deceived, all that is necessary or proper to be known.

The creation is the Bible of the Deist.

He there reads, in the handwriting of the Creator himself, the certainty of his existence and the immutability of his power, and all other Bibles and Testaments are to him forgeries.

The probability that we may be called to account hereafter will, to a reflecting mind, have the influence of belief, for it is not our belief or disbelief that can make or unmake the fact.

Wounded up, walked away.

Deism affirms general providence and rejects special providence.

God created the universe, established its laws, and then doesn't intervene.

The technical term is deus otiosus, the idol god.

Deism also rejects prophecy, revelation, and miracles as reliable sources of divine knowledge.

So if you want the cleanest contrast to hashgacha pratit, deism is it.

So the watchmaker is the atheist god with better manners.