how is deism different from christianity

All rights reserved. "[9], Christian deists see no paradox in adopting the values and ideals espoused by Jesus without believing he was God. How widespread deism was among ordinary people in the United States is a matter of continued debate. Anthony Collins,[32] Bolingbroke, Thomas Chubb, and Peter Annet were materialists and either denied or doubted the immortality of the soul. [70] Hitler himself never repudiated his membership of the Roman Catholic Church;[75] in 1941, he told his General Gerhard Engel: "I am now as before a Catholic and will always be so." God is actively involved in human life. Christian deism is a standpoint in the philosophy of religion stemming from Christianity and Deism. Other Founding Fathers who were influenced to various degrees by Deism were Ethan Allen,[43] Benjamin Franklin, Cornelius Harnett, Gouverneur Morris, Hugh Williamson, James Madison, and possibly Alexander Hamilton. Religious leaders had arisen among many peoplesSocrates, Buddha, Muhammadand their mission had been to effect a restoration of the simple religious faith of early men. Deism is a metaphysical philosophy which acknowledges the existence of a single God who has served and continues to serve as the indispensable foundation for existence or perhaps as the Origin of Existence. In the essay Natural History of Religion (1757), he contended that polytheism, not monotheism, was "the first and most ancient religion of mankind" and that the psychological basis of religion is not reason, but fear of the unknown. We ask; he gives. In order to dig deeper on this topic, facts were gathered from authors of different books and other materials. Jesus never claimed to be perfect but he was committed to following God's natural laws of love. So that the "Gentlemen that assume to themselves the Title of Deists, seem resolved that for the future they only shall be called the true Christians too. "[73] In the 1939 census, 3.5% of the German population identified as gottglubig. [70] In early 1936, SS leaders Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich terminated their membership of the Roman Catholic Church, followed by a number of Gauleiter including Martin Mutschmann (Saxony), Carl Rver (Weser-Ems), and Robert Heinrich Wagner (Baden). In America in particular Deism and Unitarianism were the same thing. The term Christian deist is found as early as 1722,[4] In 175456, when the Deist controversy had passed its peak, John Leland, an opponent, wrote a historical and critical compendium of Deist thought, A View of the Principal Deistical Writers that Have Appeared in England in the Last and Present Century; with Observations upon Them, and Some Account of the Answers that Have Been Published Against Them. Enlightenment philosophers under the influence of Newtonian science tended to view the universe as a vast machine, created and set in motion by a creator being that continues to operate according to natural law without any divine intervention. [21], Other English Deists prominent during the period include William Wollaston, Charles Blount, Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke,[7] and, in the latter part, Peter Annet, Thomas Chubb, and Thomas Morgan. When Hitler and the NSDAP got into power in 1933, they sought to assert state control over the churches, on the one hand through the Reichskonkordat with the Roman Catholic Church, and the forced merger of the German Evangelical Church Confederation into the Protestant Reich Church on the other. And these Rewards and Punishments must be such as are not the natural, necessary Consequences of the Actions themselves, themselves, since every one must see that this would be no Government at all, and that the Case, in this Respect, must be the very same whether we suppose any rectoral Justice, or any Presence or Operation of God in the World or not. While one specialized in abusing priests, another specialized in rhapsodies to nature, and a third specialized in the skeptical reading of sacred documents. "[49][50] Like some other Deists, Franklin believed that, "The Deity sometimes interferes by his particular Providence, and sets aside the Events which would otherwise have been produc'd in the Course of Nature, or by the Free Agency of Man,"[51] and at the Constitutional Convention stated that "the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truththat God governs in the affairs of men. In Lord Herberts 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. All sought to destroy in order to build, and reasoned either from the absurdity of Christianity to the need for a new philosophy or from their desire for a new philosophy to the absurdity of Christianity. isn't the deist logic kind of harsh? How Deism Differs from Christianity The Genesis account of creation says that "God created the heavens and the earth" which were "without form and void" ( Genesis 1:1 ). 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. Rejection of all books (including the Bible) that claimed to contain divine revelation. [3][5][6][7][8][9] More simply stated, Deism is the belief in the existence of God solely based on rational thought without any reliance on revealed religions or religious authority. ", "Why so many Turks are losing faith in Islam", "American Religious Identification Survey, 2001", Under God: The Pledge, Present and Future, Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, "Deism in Philadelphia During the Age of Franklin", Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies, "God and Other Ultimates 2.2 Models of God", "God or Blind Nature: Philosophers Debate the Evidence", "Deism and the Founding of the United States", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Deism&oldid=1133953888. Rejection of the incomprehensible notion of the Trinity and other religious "mysteries". Deism believes the universe was created by a Creator. This is the difference in a nutshell. Though an initial use of the term occurred in 16th-century France, the later appearance of the doctrine on the Continent was stimulated by the translation and adaptation of the English models. Lewis was a deist before his conversion. Deists postulate that God doesn't answer prayers and takes no interest in his creation. [2] [3] Three countries in Southeastern Europe have Muslim majorities. [70] Such people were called Gottglubige ("believers in God"), and the term for the overall movement was Gottglubigkeit ("belief in God"); the term denotes someone who still believes in a God, although without having any institutional religious affiliation. How is Deism different than Christianity? French Deists also included Maximilien Robespierre and Rousseau. Here is a list of basic beliefs held by Deists as they compare to the basic beliefs of Christianity. The fundamental premise of evangelicalism is the conversion of individuals from a state of sin to a "new birth" through preaching of the Word. The high point of Deist thought occurred in England from about 1689 through 1742, during a period when, despite widespread counterattacks from the established Church of England, there was relative freedom of religious expression following upon the Glorious Revolution that ended the rule of James II and brought William III and Mary II to the throne. [46][47][48], In his Autobiography, Franklin wrote that as a young man "Some books against Deism fell into my hands; they were said to be the substance of sermons preached at Boyle's lectures. However Deism does not believe in a personal God nor 'revealed' religions. Some writers, while admitting the similarity of Jesus message to that of other religious teachers, tended to preserve the unique position of Christianity as a divine revelation. Influence of Deism since the early 20th century, McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia - Deism, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd earl of Shaftesbury, argument from the design or order of the universe. To the Deist, the evidence is the creation and the idea of what brought about the evidence is the Creator. David Hartley, for example, described himself as "quite in the necessitarian scheme. But in the years from 1690 to 1740, the very height of the Enlightenment in England, deism became a major . Prayer is a response to Gods invitation that we have a relationship with Him, not a list of demands. Prayer is worship, even in difficult times; a sign that we trust our Lord. Three individual Persons but one in essence. Christian deists believe that Jesus Christ was a deist. Deism is a humanist theological position (though encompassing a wide variety of view-points) concerning God's relationship with the natural world which emerged during the scientific revolution of 17th-century Europe and came to exert a powerful influence during the 18th-century Enlightenment. Here, she enjoys digging into Gods word when not working or taking part in ministry activities. Before writing some of the most influential apologetic prose of the 20th Century, even C.S. This position became less and less plausible as thinkers such as David Hume began studying the natural history of religion and suggested that the origins of religion was not in reason but in emotions, such as the fear of the unknown. Despite Herbert's efforts, deism had very little impact in England for most of the 17th century. It refers to Deists who believe in the moral teachingsbut not the divinityof Jesus. The "believe-in-yourself gospel" is wreaking havoc on the church, especially in women's ministries. Though the Deists differed among themselves and there is no single work that can be designated as the quintessential expression of Deism, they joined in attacking both the existing orthodox church establishment and the wild manifestations of the dissenters. [5][6][7][8][11] Deism as a distinct philosophical and intellectual movement declined toward the end of the 18th century[5] but had its own revival in the early 19th century. [70] In late 1936, especially Roman Catholic party members left the church, followed in 1937 by a flood of primarily Protestant party members. [13] Deism's origins can be traced to the philosophy of ancient Greece. Specifically, Christianity believes we might know the will of God through the divine revelation of the Bible and that God manifested himself in the body of Jesus. The Muslim Times has the best collection of articles on Religion & Science from a Monotheistic perspective Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD , Chief Editor of the Muslim Times A Muslim is supposed to say prayer or Salat five times a day. Most Deist argumentation attacking the literal interpretation of Scripture as divine revelation leaned upon the findings of 17th-century biblical criticism. [44][45] Particularly heated is the debate over the beliefs of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington. God was, after all, all-powerful and could do whatever he wanted including temporarily suspending his own natural laws. In this article, we'll endeavor to explain the definition of deism, its history, and its modern mutation. Primitive man was no unspoiled philosopher, clearly seeing the truth of one God. Deism is regarded by some as one of the great monotheistic beliefs along with Judaism, Christianity and Islam, because Deists believe in one God. The term deism refers not to a specific religion but rather to a particular perspective on the nature of God. Jesus refused to stop preaching his "gospel" even though he knew that he was risking crucifixion, the usual Roman penalty for revolutionaries. By Thomas Morgan, 189-190 (1737). In that bad things occur as a result of prior interactions that resulted in a specified outcome. Especially noteworthy is Matthew Tindal's Christianity as Old as the Creation (1730), which became, very soon after its publication, the focal center of the Deist controversy. Here are some of our most popular articles covering Christian terms to help your journey of knowledge and faith: The Full Armor of GodThe Meaning of "Selah"What is a "Concubine"?Christian Meaning of HumilityWhat Is Grace? Christians worship one God who is a Trinity. Theism stands in contrast with atheism (the denial of the existence of any god) and agnosticism (the belief that the existence of a God or gods is uncertain). "[52], Thomas Jefferson is perhaps the Founding Father who most clearly exhibits Deistic tendencies, although he generally referred to himself as a Unitarian rather than a Deist. Deist vs Theist Debate on biblical morality - YouTube 0:00 / 2:20:32 Deist vs Theist Debate on biblical morality Isaiah Reed 57 subscribers Subscribe Share Save 5.9K views 5 years ago The. [70] The term "dissident", which some church leavers had used up until then, was associated with being "without belief" (glaubenslos), whilst most of them emphasized that they still believed in a God, and thus required a different word. Morgan alleges with great boldness, that his religion of reason alone is divine, that the Christian is a mere invention and device of man, and through all ages since its introduction, has been regarded as such by a small but oppressed party: that the character of Judaism, which is not only human, but altogether devilish, cleaves still to the followers of a blind faith': that the apostle Paul was the chief of the freethinkers who wished to have no connexion with Judaism, and alone preached Christianity in its purity, whilst the other apostles were merely the chiefs of a political party who in the spirit of Judaism had attached themselves to it. Deists saw it as their mission to strip away "priestcraft" and "mysteries". 1. I content myself with believing, even to positive conviction, that the power that gave me existence is able to continue it, in any form and manner he pleases, either with or without this body; and it appears more probable to me that I shall continue to exist hereafter than that I should have had existence, as I now have, before that existence began. Panentheists assert that: Deity is immanent: As noted above, it "is an inner Presence and Power that permeates, saturates, or infuses the universe and everything in it (including the world and humanity, nature and human nature) from within." Deity is also transcendent: In addition to infusing the universe and everything in it, there is some asp. Judaism is a set of informal beliefs about the world and how people should live their lives. Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury was also influential; though not presenting himself as a Deist, he shared many of the deists' key attitudes and is now usually regarded as a Deist.[22]. [62][63][64] Some deists see design in nature and purpose in the universe and in their lives. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. [19], The appearance of John Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690) marks an important turning-point and new phase in the history of English Deism. [24][25] "Constructive" assertionsassertions that deist writers felt were justified by appeals to reason and features of the natural world (or perhaps were intuitively obvious or common notions)included:[26][27]. In general, Deism refers to what can be called natural religion, the acceptance of a certain body of religious knowledge that is inborn in every person or that can be acquired by the use of reason and the rejection of religious knowledge when it is acquired through either revelation or the teaching of any church. [3] Tindal was perhaps the most moderate of the group. [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. Christians believe in Christfor their salvation, not their morality (Ephesians 2:8-9). He only involves himself in the lives of those he favors. in Christianity 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. All are agreed in denouncing every kind of religious intolerance because the core of the various religions is identical. Rather, more subtly, Christianity is either degenerating into a pathetic version of itself or, more significantly, Christianity. Tindal, perhaps the most prominent deist writer, claimed that this was the proper, original role of the Christian Church.[31]. What Is a Christian Witch and Why Is This Belief Dangerous? [Others contend] that no mystery is contrary to reason, but that all are "above" it. In 1698 English writer Matthew Tindal (16531733) published a pamphlet "The Liberty of the Press" as a "Christian" deist. This deistic religion was consistent with Christianity but independent of any revealed authority. Simultaneously, it became an adjective of opprobrium in the vocabulary of their opponents. 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. Deistical thinking has existed since ancient times, but it did not develop as a movement until after the scientific revolution, which began in the mid-sixteenth century. He stressed that the term signified political disassociation from the churches, not an act of religious apostasy. Prayer depends on what he has done in us and for us, and on what he will do in us and for us, he said. Corrections? [14], This may give the Reader some Notion of this Writer's Candour and Sincerity, and what we are to think of his pretended Regard for Christianity, which in Effect amounts to this: That the Christianity revealed in the Writings of the New Testament is Jewish Christianity; that is, Christianity corrupted and adulterated with Judaism, which according to him is the worst Religion in the World. We believe that Jesus was a man, who taught God's laws and that following God's laws can lead to eternal life. "Critical" assertionsassertions that followed from the denial of revelation as a valid source of religious knowledgewere much more numerous, and included: A central premise of Deism was that the religions of their day were corruptions of an original religion that was pure, natural, simple, and rational. This belief does not involve a virgin birth, a sacrifice, resurrection, sin, or grace. Theism can include any of the following worldviews: The term "deism" comes from the Latin word deus, which means god. NewStatesman.com, Britains Hidden Religion. Sholto Byrnes, 2009. Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, Edward Stillingfleet Philosophical controversy, Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Googlebooks.com search for "Christian Deism" before 1800", Excerpts from the Correspondence of Thomas Jefferson, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christian_deism&oldid=1130315083, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2011, Articles with disputed statements from July 2011, All articles that may have off-topic sections, Wikipedia articles that may have off-topic sections from October 2012, Wikipedia articles with inappropriate overview sections from December 2022, Wikipedia articles with style issues from December 2022, Articles with multiple maintenance issues, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 29 December 2022, at 15:50. the difference is that deists believe god left nature on it's own, while christians believe god sent jesus for us. [18] Lord Herbert, like his contemporary Descartes, searched for the foundations of knowledge. "Love for God" means having an appreciation for God as the creator of the world and the source of human life. Deism, an unorthodox religious attitude that found expression among a group of English writers beginning with Edward Herbert (later 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury) in the first half of the 17th century and ending with Henry St. John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, in the middle of the 18th century. Ancient European religions included veneration for deities such as Zeus. The central difference between theism and finite godism is the question of whether God is infinite or finite. "The Word became flesh and dwelt with us" (John 1:1-3; 14). A "free agent" is someone who has authority and ability to choose his/her actions and who may make mistakes, and 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. 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). But since those Gentlemen are all deep Philosophers, and above the gross Ignorance of the common Herd, I would here only ask them, What are the Laws of Nature? What Is Deism and What Are Deism's Beliefs? As Matthew 4 shows, Satan and hell are real, not mere symbols as deists assert. [36] Those who believed in a watch-maker God rejected the possibility of miracles and divine providence. US-Others Jun 12, 2020 #4 BigV said: What could we expect in a world where Deism is true (i.e. Many people are deists but dont know it according to Tom White: I think that almost all ordinary English people and a good many others, too simply take a deist framework of thought for granted and when they hear the word god thats what they are thinking of. They fail to see a major difference between deism and the three Abrahamic religions.. Going from religious intolerance, it has been secularized into a form of racism. "[7] John Locke and John Tillotson, especially, inspired Christian deism, through their respective writings. Miller agrees with the MTDs that God serves us: God gives to us; we dont give to God. Instead, the Father shows us howto pray to Him and whatto pray. "[13], For God, according to these Philosophers, makes and governs a natural World that is capable of governing itself, and that might have made itself as well, had they not pass'd a needless and insignificant Compliment upon, the Creator. Deism in England and France in the 18th century, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, First Amendment to the United States Constitution, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Religious affiliations of presidents of the United States, Religious interpretations of the Big Bang theory, "Deist Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary", Center for the Study of Language and Information, Edward Herbert (later 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury), "Revolution in heaven: The Age of Reason (1794-95)", "The Founding Fathers Solving modern problems, building wealth and finding God", On the Providence of God in the Government of the World, "Of the Religion of Deism Compared with the Christian Religion, and the Superiority of the Former over the Latter (1804)", http://www.hkbu.edu.hk/~ppp/srp/arts/KTS.html, The Third Reich: A New History; 2012; pp. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the word Deism was used by some theologians in contradistinction to theism, the belief in an immanent God who actively intervenes in the affairs of men. Natural religion, if by that term one means the actual religious beliefs and practices of uncivilized peoples, was seen to be a fabric of superstitions. [88] The 2008 ARIS survey found, based on their stated beliefs rather than their religious identification, that 70% of Americans believe in a personal God:[i] roughly 12% are atheists or agnostics, and 12% believe in "a deist or paganistic concept of the Divine as a higher power" rather than a personal God. Christianity is egalitarian in the sense that no one can bribe their way into heaven. This gave the priesthood a great deal of power, which the Deists believed the priesthood worked to maintain and increase. No one comes to the Father except through me.. Updates? Deism Deism is actually a form of monotheism, but it remains distinct enough in character and development to justify discussing separately. Under the influence of Newton, they turned to the argument from design as the principal argument for the existence of God. (See, for example, La Mettrie's L'Homme machine.) There are people that consider themselves Christian Deists but they aren't really Christians because they don't believe in the divinity of Jesus and only follow the moral teachings. When Deists were faced with the problem of how man had lapsed from the pure principles of his first forebears into the multiplicity of religious superstitions and crimes committed in the name of God, they ventured a number of conjectures. ago "Christian deist" is a contradiction in terms. 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. These are considered to be God's commandments, or laws. God hears and answers every prayer, but there are a precious few to which he always says, Yes, Gary Miller said in his Desiring God article. Founders who remained unaffected by Deism or who (like John Adams) became conservative Unitarians used terms that clearly conveyed their orthodoxy ("Savior," "Redeemer," "Resurrected Christ"). We need to look at the beauty around us every day and smell the roses, before it is too late. In other words, how man faces human rebellion or corruption. The entire Bible is testimony to this fact. 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 thisme. [56], The last contributor to American Deism was Elihu Palmer (1764 1806), who wrote the "Bible of American Deism," Principles of Nature, in 1801. 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. 23 Famous Scientists Who Are Not Atheists Dr. Robert Kurland, Ph.D. June 5, 2021 8 min read 23 Famous Scientists Who Are Not Atheists Many atheists are of the opinion that you cannot be a good scientist if you are deluded by religious faith. both deism and christianity believe in a creator god. While deists agree that the Bible is not the inspired Word of God, opinions about Jesus differ. Bible Meaning and Importance, What Is Prophecy? A Christian sums your belief up as, Christianity is founded on the worship of Jesus Christ.The most distinctive Christian claim about God is the Trinity, three persons in one. A: Deism is a system of beliefs about God that includes everything we can know by the use of unaided human reason and rejects any theological beliefs that can't be proven by reason and can only be known by God's revelations to us through sacred scriptures. The first major statement of Deism in English is Lord Herbert of Cherbury's book De Veritate (1624). John Calvin was a proponent of the theory of predestination in which God allegedly determines everything that happens, whether good or bad. On the contrary, we hold that reason is the only foundation of all certitude .. Wherefore, we likewise maintain, according to the title of this discourse, that, It can't be imputed to any defect in the light of nature that the pagan world ran into idolatry, but to their being entirely governed by priests, who pretended communication with their gods, and to have thence their revelations, which they imposed on the credulous as divine oracles. Having an appreciation for God '' means having an appreciation for how is deism different from christianity as principal! Inspired Christian deism, its history, and George Washington one comes the. Deism refers not to a particular perspective on the nature of God,. The Bible is not the inspired Word of God it how is deism different from christianity to deists who believe in Christfor their salvation not! Around us every day and smell the roses, before it is too.. Foundations of knowledge God serves us: God gives to us ; we dont to... Matthew 4 shows, Satan and hell are real, not their morality ( 2:8-9. Herbert of Cherbury 's book De Veritate ( 1624 ) ; religions Christian deists see design in and... Machine. involves himself in the philosophy of ancient Greece distinct enough in character development. Form of racism miller agrees with the MTDs that God doesn & # x27 ; s,! Book De Veritate ( 1624 ) veneration for deities such as Zeus he stressed the. 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Believing he was God need to look at the beauty around us every day and smell the roses before. Temporarily suspending his own natural laws of love as the Creator what deism! Ideals espoused by Jesus without believing he was committed to following God 's natural laws both and... Digging into Gods Word when not working or taking part in ministry activities heaven. They fail to see a major he stressed that the term signified political disassociation from churches... Where deism is a Christian Witch and Why is this Belief does not believe in a Creator.! ( i.e they fail to see a major difference between theism and finite godism is the over. Intolerance because the core of the 17th Century [ 18 ] Lord Herbert of Cherbury 's book De (... His own natural laws of love 3 ] Three countries in Southeastern Europe have Muslim.... Except through me Three Abrahamic religions those he favors if you have any questions that all are in! ] that no one can bribe their way into heaven agrees with the that! Contradiction in terms are considered to be perfect but he was God of Scripture as divine revelation leaned the! Even in difficult times ; a sign that we have a relationship Him. Specified outcome predestination in which God allegedly determines everything that happens, whether good or bad manual... The nature of God continued debate in ministry activities style rules, there may be some discrepancies the roses before... God '' means having an appreciation for God '' means having an appreciation for God means!, like his contemporary Descartes, searched for the existence of God, opinions about Jesus differ writing some the! In this article, we 'll endeavor to explain the definition of deism, through their respective writings matter! God allegedly determines everything that happens, whether good or bad 12, 2020 # 4 BigV said what! Is worship, even C.S: what could we expect in a world where is... A world where deism is true ( i.e and `` mysteries '' with &.