Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A religious belief holding that God created the universe and established rationally comprehensible moral and natural laws but does not intervene in human affairs through miracles or supernatural revelation.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The doctrine that God is distinct, and separated from the world. See
deist , 1. - noun Belief in the existence of a personal God, accompanied with the denial of revelation and of the authority of the Christian church.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The doctrine or creed of a deist; the belief or system of those who acknowledge the existence of one God, but deny revelation.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A philosophical
belief in theexistence of agod (orgoddess ) knowable through human reason; especially, a belief in a creator god unaccompanied by any belief in supernatural phenomena or specific religious doctrines.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the form of theological rationalism that believes in God on the basis of reason without reference to revelation
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The term deism, however, has come in the course of time to have a more specific meaning.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 4: Clandestinity-Diocesan Chancery 1840-1916 1913
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Most people have probably never heard of the term deism, or, if they had, would fail to distinguish it from theism.
New Statesman 2009
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Most people have probably never heard of the term deism, or, if they had, would fail to distinguish it from theism.
New Statesman 2009
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They are wicked: but they are not deists; for the term deism surely stands for admitting tlie religion of nature, as well as for the renouncing of revela - tion.
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I'm not sure deism is the only type of belief compatible with such a view.
Aiguy's Computer 2008
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I'm not sure deism is the only type of belief compatible with such a view.
Aiguy's Computer 2008
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I'd define it for you, but since you got so offended last time when I defined the word "deism" - I let you do that, mmkay?
Texas Faith: When is it okay to use God to advance public policy? | RELIGION Blog | dallasnews.com 2009
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Jefferson was denounced as being un-Christian by the opposition, who cited his belief in deism as proof enough that he shouldn’t be elected.
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He rarely spoke about his religion, but his Freemasonry experience points to a belief in deism.
Think Progress » Fox News Recruits Priest to Advise Bush On Weathering Scandals 2005
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The movement of English thought known as deism was a distinct forerunner of the rationalist movement, within the particular area of the discussion of religion.
An Outline of the History of Christian Thought Since Kant Edward Caldwell Moore 1900
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