Hey everyone, it's Stephanie.
This weekend, I read over our class notes on Deism. The people who believed in Deism thought that the universe was explainable; still a mystery, but able to be deciphered through rationalism. If the universe could be explained rationally, wouldn’t God have to be rational, since the sole existance of the world likewise proves the existence of God? This confuses me a little; if God (and for some, Christ) is supposed to be divine and omniscient, why does he need rationalism?
Also, did Deists take the Bible as the ‘word of God’? The Bible is comprised of spiritually derived manifestations from God; doesn’t that contradict rationalism and logic?
If Deists believed man was perfectable, and could so ‘make himself perfect’ through logical progression of thought and proving of hypotheses, did they require preists, or attendence at mass at all? If not, who or what kept Deism alive for the time being? What if you believed that you had, in fact, reasoned out the existance of God and the universe by means of rational thought. What then, was your faith, your religion, if your religion was explained by man?Does that mean man is on the same level as God? Then where is the Great Chain of Being?
Sorry about all of the questions, but I’m interested to hear everyone’s thoughts.
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4 comments:
Stephanie, I don't believe the deists followed the Bible or Jesus Christ. Rationalists and deists are different. We learned about this in European History, but I'm not posistive. I know that one of the most famous rationalists, David Hume, was an atheist. I would think most rationalists would follow that way of thinking as well. The rationalists did not believe in miracles, so they did not follow Jesus.
Deists have a lot in common with rationalists but are different, however, because they definately believe in the existence of God. Deism could be considered a religion, but there are no ritual acts or rules. Deists feel that God created the universe, set in in motion, and left it. They believe that the world operates without divine intervention. Since they believe that God does not intervene in our lives, then they can not possibly believe in Jesus or miracles such as those in in the Bible. Deists, therefore, do not accept the Christian faith and do not need priests or to attend mass to "perfect" themselves. They were against the Church. They believe man could be perfected through learning and scientific experimentation. I imagine they did not follow the Great Chain of Being because they did not believe in miracles or angels, but they must have felt lowly compared to God because He created the universe.
Hey, it's Jasmine.
(With some help from Wikipedia:)The people were likely to become Deists were the ones that couldn't bring themselves to believe in Jesus's divinity or in miracles. According to John Toland, "there is nothing in the Gospel contrary to reason, nor above it; and that no Christian doctrine can be properly called a mystery." He says that if something in the Gospel clashes with reason, it means nothing at all. Basically, if something didn't make sense, they rejected it. So I think that Deists saw the Bible as a historical document that had been written by humans and didn't necessarily have to be true. If it clashed with reason, they didn't believe it.
Steph - you asked, "What then, was your faith...if your religion was explained by man?" They thought God had endowed them with the ability to reason, so he was the starting point - the cause of everything. Deists also thought that priests were part of "mystery," which they didn't like - remember, mystery clashed with reason. They wanted a pure, simple, and original religion, uncorrupted by priests.
Happy New Year! It's Amy. Ok, first Steph asked why God needs rationalism if he is omnipotent. As Jasmine wrote, deists belived that God gave man the ability to reason. God does not obey rationalism, I think deists believed more that God created rationalism and God's creation is what affects the logic of everything else.
Also, from what I've learned about deists in the past (although very little), deists did not interpret the bible literally, but rather took from it lessons and symbolism that could be applied to life. Deists did not believe in miracles or divine intervention, so the bible was most likely translated loosely.
As to what kept deism alive, my opinion is that it could have been discussion and debate of what rationalism is and what really exists. No one was necessarily spiritually higher than another, but with the many mysteries of the universe, there would be many topics to consider. The reason why deism became so popular might have been because everyone was on an equal level and no one had all of the answers.
With the last part of Steph's entry, she brings up the question of whether deists thought that they could ever be on the same level as God. God was viewed as an omnipotent and omnipresent being. Man could never have that same amount of power as God and be able to create a universe and logic. I feel that God was still considered much higher than man because God has a power that cannot be matched by his creation.
Hey, it's Erin.
I think that since deism is more of a philosophy than a religion, they didn't need (or want) priests or ceremonies. It was a way of thinking for them. As to where was man in relation to God, I think that deists believed that man was perfectable (complete 180 from Puritanism) through things like reason, but I don't think they ever put themselves and God on the same level. Finally, I don't think that they "reasoned out" the existence of God, because the believed God created the world and let it run. They used the existence of the world as proof of God.
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