Deism

Deism is the belief that the universe was created by a God who then made no further intervention in its affairs, often expressed by the metaphor of the "Divine Watchmaker" who created a mechanism so perfect as to be self-regulating. Deists do not believe in miracles or revelations. Because of their rejection of revelation, they attempt to infer their theology entirely from philosophical arguments.

External Link

http://www.sullivan-county.com/deism.htm Deism and Reason

Deism was popular among thinkers of the Enlightenment such as Voltaire and the Founding Fathers of the United States, but serious advocacy of deism is unusual among more recent theologians.

Thomas Jefferson is perhaps the most well known and outspoken of the American founding deists. See Jefferson on Deism for some quotes. Benjamin Franklin seems also to have shared components of this view.

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Deism is also sometimes used as a term for a non-sectarian view of god. In other words, someone who believes in the existence of the divine, but does not (for whatever reason) ascribe any specifics to that deity (in the form of one or more religions) is a deist.

See also: theism, atheism, agnosticism, pantheism, panentheism, God, list of Deists