Main points of doctrine deist Deism says:
- Anything that is not the work of man is produced by a universal and intelligent original source (called God). Regardless of all the scientific explanations that can be made to every detail of our environment, it is generally impossible to imagine a beginning and an end to space, time and matter, which together form the universe, because everything always call an origin and a sequel, which themselves will still call another home and another suite, etc. .... The paradox of the First Cause can not be explained in principle at the foundation of all that exists and is called "God."
- It is inconceivable that nothing is behind everything. According to the principle of sufficient reason , any thing in this world justifies its existence by its usefulness, and is part of a scheme of overall performance. In fact, the arrangement of these myriad elements can not be a coincidence, and requires action authorizing a superior entity.
- God is not material essence (God is spirit ), he transcends his work, which itself is purely physical.
- For some, God has a permanent action in the universe, for others it does not interact with the world since its creation, or from a period more or less later.
- God is manifested by works which we can explain the existence of a pure chance, a perfect combination of circumstances, as great as the time scale used ( nature , life, the universe , human consciousness ...).
- The sense of God comes from the study of creation (as we contemplate the picture we can understand the painter).
- In designing deist, religion is reduced to an institution rather purely artificial, created by men, rather than as a means of expression used by the Creator. In fact, the role of religions would be more political, seeking to build social cohesion and order in society, through a message supposedly of divine origin, rather than releasing the contribution of the truth.
- For some deists, the relationship of man to God is direct (thoughts) and without intermediaries, for others it does not interact with the world and does not intervene in the destiny of men.
- God can be apprehended by the scientific thought and rational men. It is an intangible entity that transcends the capabilities of perception of humanity.
Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau asserted themselves as Deists. Most philosophers of the Enlightenment were deists, they were qualified atheist for reasons of controversy.
History
This is from the sixteenth century recognized what that concept means between theism Christian and atheist. It is no longer here transcendence of God but of immanence. In a Christian perspective, the historical authenticity of the Revelation and Scripture is challenged: the Supreme Being becomes directly perceptible in the faculties of man.
Because deism happens dogmas of revealed religion, and denies he was, from the seventeenth century , one of the prime targets of Catholicism , just as the atheist.
Since Kant ( XVIII century ), it is customary to distinguish between deism and theism. Indeed, it intends to comply with "the will of God," while Deism believes that everything is already occurring in accordance with the will of God, since nothing escapes the divine laws of creation.
Voltaire declared himself a deist, particularly in his article entitled "Prayer to God". The God deist is universal, there is no intermediary between people and God, God is well above the "human pettiness" (he also liken the men of "atoms" can no longer smaller than humans), and do not care of its business, cults, rituals and superstitions. This design of a distant God is summed up in two of the French Alexandrine: "The world embarrasses me, and I can not think / That this clock exists and has developed a watchmaker."
In the entourage of Newton and powered by the new understanding of the Universe as a glimpse of his theories, deism gave birth to the idea of a natural religion of which echo the first Constitutions of Anderson who founded the Freemasons Modern in 1723.
Deism inspired many statements of U.S. politicians in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century ( Thomas Jefferson , Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine ). The concept of designer appears in the American Declaration of Independence of 1776.
Two views of the Supreme Being and Deism in the eighteenth century
Abbe Mallet in the article "Deists" of the encyclopedia or dictionary of the sciences, arts and crafts quotes at length the Abbe House, Doctor of the Sorbonne, who, in a treatise on the true religion printed in Paris in 1737 distinguishes two types of deists :
- "The first sort of Deists advance and supports these proposals: one must admit the existence of a supreme being, eternal, infinite, intelligent, creative, conservative and sovereign master of the universe, who presides over all movements and all events that result ... . It seems to be referred by Newton and the English deists, because at the beginning of his article, Fr Mallet refers to Unitarians and alleged thinkers English. Their conception of Deism is likely closer to the remote design of the divine: God is a referee who simply limited its action to ensure the proper functioning of the universe, regardless of human affairs.
- "The second sort of Deists quite other reasons. The supreme being, they say, is an eternal, infinite, intelligent, who governs the world with order and wisdom, he followed in his conduct of the immutable rules of truth, order and good morale, because " it is wisdom, truth and holiness in nature. The eternal rules of good order are binding on all rational beings .... " This design is in the tradition of Malebranche and Leibniz. God is not indifferent, but is directly involved in his work for the guide to good, perfection, trying to influence the conduct of his creatures.
Notes
- Deism never speaks of the gods, but of God
- Idea shared with theism
- according to sources and encyclopedias, Voltaire is sometimes presented as both deist and sometimes as a theist. His Treatise on Tolerance is a philosophical essay in which he develops his ideas against bigotry and persecution. The text has the appearance of a prayer, but in reality the content of the application of the text is addressed to men. The purpose of Voltaire is to bring men to mutual tolerance in the religious and social. It is a call to brotherhood among men. It is also developing a text which deism of Voltaire: condemnation of hierarchy and religious practices that divide people. This text is part of the struggle that led to the eighteenth century, says the Enlightenment philosophers for tolerance and respect between men.
- This difference between these two forms of deism is essential to understanding the controversy Newton Leibniz in the early eighteenth century and that the system of optimism to 1750. It is not without influence on the interpretation of the invisible hand in the work of Adam Smith and perhaps the development of relations between Diderot and d'Alembert
References
- It can also be assumed that even if the message is true, religious leaders tend to mislead for political purposes
See also
Bibliography
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