You're saying there really are modern deists?
Stacy.
At 04:48 PM 12/18/2002 -0900, you wrote:
Marc A. Schindler favored us with:
Thomas Jefferson was a deist; these days he would probably be a
Unitarian, and Benjamin Franklin was not an observing Christian, either,
from what
I remember. I'm not saying he was an atheist, but iirc, his own thinking
tended
towards deism as well (the difference between deism and theism is that
both believe
there's a "higher power" but the deist doesn't believe it's a personal entity
whereas theism does).
This isn't quite right, Marc. I used to be a Deist, and among Deists no
such distinctions are made between a personal and impersonal God. A Deist
was one who believed only what all religions (of the day) held in common,
ie. 1) a supreme being, 2) a system of punishments and rewards after
death, etc. Here is a passage from the current online Britannica that
will set you straight:
---
Deists during the flowering of the doctrine, though their religious
antagonists often attempted to force them into this difficult position.
Historically, a distinction between theism and Deism has never had wide
currency in European thought. As an example, when encyclopaedist Denis
Diderot , in France, translated into French the works of Anthony Ashley
Cooper, 3rd earl of Shaftesbury , one of the important English Deists, he
often rendered �Deism� as th�isme. The term is not in current usage as a
metaphysical concept, and its significance is really limited to the 17th
and 18th centuries.
[...]
In Lord Herbert's treatises five religious ideas were recognized as
God-given and innate in the mind of man from the beginning of time: the
belief in a supreme being, in the need for his worship , in the pursuit of
a pious and virtuous life as the most desirable form of worship, in the
need of repentance for sins, and in rewards and punishments in the next
world. These fundamental religious beliefs, Herbert held, had been the
possession of the first man, and they were basic to all the worthy
positive institutionalized religions of later times. Thus, differences
among sects and cults all over the world were usually benign, mere
modifications of universally accepted truths; they were corruptions only
when they led to barbarous practices such as the immolation of human
victims and the slaughter of religious rivals.
---
So you see, Deists were left to themselves to discover the nature of God,
whether he was personal or impersonal. It is only accurate to say that
they believed in a Supreme Being.
It is my understanding that most of our Founders were Deists. Knowing as
they did that the religions then extant were the irrational philosophies
of men, they tried to strip away all the incrustations of sectarianism and
return to the most fundamental basics common to all. No wonder they
joined the Church when they got a chance. No wonder I did.
John W. Redelfs [EMAIL PROTECTED]
===========================================
"Atheistic humanism is the opiate of the self-described
intellectuals" --Uncle Bob
===========================================
All my opinions are tentative pending further data. --JWR
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
/// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at ///
/// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html ///
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
---
Incoming mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.423 / Virus Database: 238 - Release Date: 11/25/2002
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
/// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at ///
/// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html ///
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
==^^===============================================================
This email was sent to: [email protected]
EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aaP9AU.bWix1n.YXJjaGl2
Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail!
http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register
==^^===============================================================
