"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." - Reinhold Niebuhr

Sunday, November 9, 2008

A Little More on Deism...


I wanted to explain a little bit more about Deism for anyone who might be wondering. I will start with some of the fundamental basics of Deism...

This is from The Deist Document:

Although Deists don't have an official set of tenants, there are a few beliefs that most Deists agree on. Here is a list of seven unofficial basic Deist beliefs:

  1. Belief in an intelligent designer of the universe.
  2. Belief that the intelligent designer is "outside" the universe, and not part of the universe (as in pantheism).
  3. Belief that after the Deity created the universe, He stepped away from it to allow it to evolve naturally based on the laws of physics which He created without any need for His further intervention.
  4. Belief that the Deity does not perform "miracles" which defy the laws of physics, or intervene in a supernatural way in the affairs of mankind.
  5. Belief that the Deity does not reveal Himself to mankind through priests or other "enlightened" individuals, but rather through the workings of nature.
  6. Belief that the Deity imposes no pre-ordained, or divinely inspired moral code of behavior on mankind, but rather expects man to develop his own codes of conduct for living in harmony with his fellow man based on his God-given Reason.
  7. Although there is no scientific evidence for an afterlife, most Deists do have a "hope" for an afterlife.

The above list is not intended to be a dogmatic set of rules that Deists MUST believe. In fact, Deists regularly discuss, debate and modify various aspects of the above items all the time. That's a good thing about Deism. It doesn't tell you what you MUST believe. However, if you are a Deist, then you are probably in agreement with most of the items listed above.

The seven statements above are the basis for what I believe... Which was kind of a shock to me when I first read them. I had no idea there were so many people out there who felt or believed what I do. Deists don't need other people or books to tell them what they can and can't believe. We see the presence of God through nature.

Earlier today, I was thinking more about the complexities of nature. I was thinking about DNA, which is basically the blueprint of life. So in one aspect, God is an architect. He drew the blueprints for what he wanted and made it self-building. I find it so amazing how that something so small and fairly simple as DNA can make something so complex as a human being. To me, that is evidence of a Creator/Designer.

2 comments:

Bob Taylor said...

I've been a Deist for a few years now. I now call myself a Spiritual Deist. Spiritual Deists are usually Panentheists and believers in reincarnation. I prey prayers of affirmation not prayers of supplication. I also meditate. I look forward to reading posts here and learning.

ellede said...

"Although Deists don't have an official set of tenants"

That's "tenets". Tenants are people who rent accommodation! :)

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