Christian Deism

Christian deism, in the philosophy of religion, is a standpoint that branches from Christianity. It refers to a deist who believes in the moral teachings—but not divinity—of Jesus. Corbett and Corbett (1999) cite John Adams and Thomas Jefferson as exemplars.[1] The earliest-found usage of the term Christian deism in print in English is in 1738 in a book by Thomas Morgan,[2]appearing about ten times by 1800.[3] The term Christian deist is found as early as 1722,[4][5] inChristianity vindicated against infidelity by Daniel Waterland (he calls it a misuse of language), and adopted later by Matthew Tindal in his 1730 work, Christianity as Old as the Creation.[6]

Christian deism is influenced by Christianity, as well as both main forms of deism: classical and modern. In 1698 English writer Matthew Tindal (1653–1733) published a pamphlet "The Liberty of the Press" as a "Christian" deist.[citation needed][dubious – discuss] He believed that the state should control the Church in matters of public communication.[7][relevant? – discuss]

It adopts the ethics and non-mystical teachings of Jesus, while denying that Jesus was a deity. Scholars of the founding fathers of the United States "have tended to place the founders' religion into one of three categories—non-Christian deism, Christian deism, and orthodox Christianity."[8]John Locke and John Tillotson, especially, inspired Christian deism, through their respective writings.[9] Possibly the most famed person to hold this position was Thomas Jefferson, who praised "nature's God" in the "Declaration of Independence" (1776) and edited the "Jefferson Bible"—a Bible with all reference to revelations and other miraculous interventions from a deity cut out.

In an 1803 letter to Joseph Priestley, Jefferson states that he conceived the idea of writing his view of the "Christian system" in a conversation with Dr. Benjamin Rush during 1798–99. He proposes beginning with a review of the morals of the ancient philosophers, moving on to the "deism and ethics of the Jews", and concluding with the "principles of a pure deism" taught by Jesus, "omit[ting] the question of his divinity, and even his inspiration."[10]

Christian deists see no paradox in adopting the values and ideals espoused by Jesus without believing he was God. Without providing examples or citations, one author maintains, "A number of influential 17th- and 18th-century thinkers claimed for themselves the title of 'Christian deist' because they accepted both the Christian religion based on revelation and a deistic religion based on natural reason. This deistic religion was consistent with Christianity but independent of any revealed authority. Christian deists often accepted revelation because it could be made to accord with natural or rational religion."[11]

Contents
[hide]
 * 1 Overview
 * 1.1 Deism
 * 1.2 History
 * 1.3 Christian foundation
 * 2 Different schools of thought
 * 2.1 Jesus as the Son of God
 * 2.2 Jesus as a moral teacher
 * 3 Diverging from Christianity and deism
 * 4 See also
 * 5 References
 * 6 External links

Deism[edit]
Deism is a humanist theological position (though encompassing a wide variety of view-points) concerning God's relationship with thenatural world which emerged during the scientific revolution of 17th-century Europe and came to exert a powerful influence during the18th-century enlightenment.

Deists reject atheism,[12] and there were a number of different types of deists in the 17th and 18th century.

Deism holds that God does not intervene with the functioning of the natural world in any way, allowing it to run according to the laws of nature that he configured when he created all things. Because God does not control or interfere with his self-sustaining Creation, its component systems work in concert to achieve the balanced natural processes that make up the physical world. As such, Human beings are "free agents in a free world." A "free agent" is someone who has authority and ability to choose his/her actions and who may make mistakes. A "free world" is one which ordinarily operates as it is designed to operate and permits the consequential properties of failure and accident to be experienced by its inhabitants. God is thus conceived to be wholly transcendent and never immanent. For deists, human beings can only know God via reason and the observation of nature but not by revelation or supernatural manifestations (such as miracles)—phenomena which deists regard with caution if not skepticism.

History[edit]
Williston Walker, in A History of the Christian Church, wrote: "In its milder form, it emerged as 'rational supernaturalism,' but in its central development it took the form of a full Christian Deism, while its radical wing turned against organized religion as anti-Christian Deism."[9]"English Deism on the whole was a cautious, Christian Deism, largely restricted in influence to the upper classes. But a radical anti-Christian Deism, militant in its attack on organized Christianity, though with few supporters, accompanied it."[13]

An early Christian deist wrote:

Another wrote:

Christian foundation[edit]
In conjunction with deistic perspectives, Christian deism incorporates Christian tenets. Christian deists believe that Jesus Christ was a deist. Jesus taught that there are two basic laws of God governing humankind. The first law is that life comes from God and we are to use it as God intends, as illustrated in Jesus' parable of the talents. The second law is that God intends for human beings to live by love for each other, as illustrated in Jesus' parable of the good Samaritan.

Jesus summarized two basic "commandments" or laws of God as "love for God and love for neighbor." These two commandments through Christian deism were known to Jesus from the Hebrew scriptures but Jesus expanded the definition of "neighbor" to include everyone concerned in the natural world. "Love for God" means having appreciation for God as the creator of the world and the source of human life. "Love for neighbor" means having appreciation for the value of every human life. These are not laws or "truths" that Jesus received through some supernatural "revelation" according to Christian deism. In his "parable of the sower," Jesus taught that the "word of God" is known naturally because it is sown "in the heart" of everyone. For instance, the apostle Paul, who was a Jew, recognized that God's laws are known naturally by everyone. Paul wrote, "When Gentiles (non-Jews) who do not have the (Mosaic) law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts" (Romans 2:14-15). Christian deism is therefore based on appreciation for all creation and on appreciation for every human life.

In his teachings, Jesus used examples from the natural world and from human nature to explain basic truths about life. In his parables, Jesus spoke of mustard seeds, wheat, weeds, fishing nets, pearls, vineyards, fig trees, salt, candlelight and sheep to illustrate his points. Jesus also used illustrations from human nature to teach basic concepts such as repentance, forgiveness, justice, and love.

Jesus called for people to follow God's laws, or commandments, so the "kingdom of God" could come "on earth as it is in heaven." As Jesus preached the "gospel", or good news, that the "kingdom of God is at hand," Christians deists believe the Romans viewed Jesus as a Jewish revolutionary seeking to liberate the Jews from Roman rule. Jesus refused to stop preaching his "gospel" even though he knew that he was risking crucifixion, the usual Roman penalty for revolutionaries. Jesus called for his followers to take this same risk, "If a man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it" (Mark 8:34-35).

After his crucifixion, Jesus' cross became a symbol of commitment to establishing the "kingdom of God" on earth. Christian deists are committed to following God's natural laws, as summarized in the two "commandments" to love God and love our neighbor.

Different schools of thought[edit]
The broad spectrum of thought available within the idea of a Christian deism encompasses models of classical deism and pandeism with simple reverence for the message of tolerance claimed as espoused by the human Jesus, to belief in Jesus as a sort of naturally occurring divine figure, a mystical product of the rational processes of a rational universe. An example of the broadness attributed to Christian deism is found in this criticism of the position:"The freer Paulinian party, according to Morgan's view, had been from the first always persecuted and oppressed by the others; and although the Jewish Christians had afterwards fallen asunder and separated into various hostile sects, the same intolerant Jewish spirit still, in a greater or a less degree, animated them all, and they would not consent to relinquish the service of sacrifices; this spirit has given birth to a religion of priests among all those sects, which is immeasurably removed from the true religion. In addition, Morgan will not at all admit that his opinions approach in any respect to atheism, or that his object is to defend any thing similar to it; he alone, as he alleges, is a teacher of the true moral religion. It will not therefore be a matter of surprise, that a division of his book treats of the public forms of divine worship, and especially upon prayer. On the other hand, his Christian Deist will have nothing to do with sacrifices or satisfaction,—nothing with the vicarious death of Christ,—nothing with sacrifices and ceremonies,—with grace or election, which does not depend upon the merit of the person elected.[16]"Christian deists do not worship Jesus as God. However, there are differing views concerning the exact nature of Jesus, as well as differing levels of hewing to traditional, orthodox deistic belief on this issue. There are two main theological positions.

Jesus as the Son of God[edit]
Of the Christian deists who look upon Jesus as the Son of God, (but not God himself), the Christian aspect of their faith is drawn from three main aspects of prior Christian thought.[17]

They take a modified view of Pelagius, that there is no need for divine aid in performing good works and that the only "grace" necessary is the declaration of the law. They also hold a mild version of the Moral influence theory of atonement philosophy. They combine these two philosophies with certain aspects of classical Unitarian theology. Indeed, mainstream deistic thought contributed to the rise of Unitarianism itself, with people in the 19th century increasingly self-identifying as Unitarians rather than as deists.[18]

Jesus as a moral teacher[edit]
Christian deists who do not believe in Jesus as the son of God strongly reject any theories of atonement.

Different theories receive different levels of rejection, the strongest rejection being reserved for the theory of penal substitution, that claims that Jesus had to die as a sacrifice to pay the "death penalty" for humankind and save them from the "wrath" of God. And they do not view God as a whimsical tyrant who sends plagues and pestilence to punish people on earth and who plans to torture people in "hell" in the future. Christian deists reject these ideas as products of human hatred and a failure to recognize God's natural laws of love for others.

Christian deists consider themselves to be disciples, or students, of Jesus because Jesus taught the natural laws of God. But Christian deists believe that Jesus was only human.[19] Jesus had to struggle with his own times of disappointment, sorrow, anger, prejudice, impatience, and despair, just as other human beings struggle with these experiences. Jesus never claimed to be perfect but he was committed to following God's natural laws of love.

Diverging from Christianity and deism[edit]
Christian deism can differ from both mainstream deism and orthodox Christianity. This can occasionally be on the same subject but most often, Christian deism finds itself in agreement with one on a given theological topic, only to disagree on the next theological topic.

Christian deism is opposed to the doctrine of predestination in which everything that happens is thought to be "the will of God." John Calvin was a proponent of the theory of predestination in which God allegedly determines everything that happens, whether good or bad. Christian deists believe that it is never "God's will" for anyone to be sick or injured. In that bad things occur as a result of prior interactions that resulted in a specified outcome. These bad things may be caused by interfering with naturalistic processes that result in negative consequences to carbon-based life, or by human interaction on the surface of the Earth that leads to degrees of inhospitable conditions for others. Christians deists believe God gifted the human intellect to heal many illnesses, but God does not directly intervene to heal people on demand by some "supernatural" occurrence. Humans are believed to already have the endowed capacity to create synergies and contribute in some way toward the development of fairer societies on Earth, whether it be through scientific understanding or spiritual enlightenment. However, Christian deists also strongly oppose the mainstream deistic notion that sacred texts like the Bible contain no revealed truths.[20][21]

See also[edit]

 * Jesuism
 * Theistic rationalism
 * Cultural Christian

References[edit]

 * 1) Jump up^ Michael Corbett and Julia Mitchell Corbett, Politics and religion in the United States (1999) p. 68
 * 2) Jump up^ Morgan, Thomas (1738). The moral philosopher: In a dialogue between Philalethes a Christian deist, and Theophanes a Christian Jew.
 * 3) Jump up^ "Googlebooks.com search for "Christian Deism" before 1800.".In most cases it was used to name a group that the author opposed.
 * 4) Jump up^ "GoogleBooks search for "christian deists" before 1730".
 * 5) Jump up^ Waterland, Daniel (1722). Christianity vindicated against infidelity. p. 63.
 * 6) Jump up^ Tindal, Matthew (1730). Christianity as Old as the Creation. pp. 368 ff.
 * 7) Jump up^ Anthony C. Thiselton, Hermeneutics: An Introduction (2009) p 137
 * 8) Jump up^ The faiths of the founding fathers, by David Lynn Holmes, p. 163 (2006)
 * 9) ^ Jump up to:a b A history of the Christian church, by Williston Walker, 579 (1985)
 * 10) Jump up^ Excerpts from the Correspondence of Thomas JeffersonRetrieved 12 Jul 2011
 * 11) Jump up^ Jesus Christ in History and Scripture, Edgar V. McKnight, p. 96 (1999)
 * 12) Jump up^ Justo L. González (1984). The Reformation to the present day. HarperCollins. pp. 190–. ISBN 9780060633165. Retrieved 14 Aug2010.
 * 13) Jump up^ A history of the Christian church, by Williston Walker, 584 (1985)
 * 14) Jump up^ The moral philosopher: in a dialogue between Philalethes, a Christian deist and Theophanes a Christian Jew. By Thomas Morgan, 189-190 (1737).
 * 15) Jump up^ The divine authority of the Old and New Testament asserted, by John Leland, p viii-ix (1739)
 * 16) Jump up^ History of the Eighteenth Century and of the Nineteenth, by F.C. Schlosser, p. 47 (1843)
 * 17) Jump up^ "Christian Deism". Enlightenment Deism. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
 * 18) Jump up^ Mossner, Ernest Campbell (1967). "Deism". The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Vol. 2. Collier-MacMillan. pp. 326–336
 * 19) Jump up^ [1][dead link]
 * 20) Jump up^ "the christian deist café". Christian-deist.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
 * 21) Jump up^ "Beliefs". Christiandeism.com. Retrieved 2013-08-25.

External links[edit]

 * ChristianDeism.com
 * ChristianDeistFellowship.com
 * Christian-Deist.Blogspot.com
 * Spiritual Deism From The Source