Just throwing an introduction out there and wishing everyone a blessed day! I look forward to engaging in intellectual and thought provoking discussion on this site. See you on the forums!
Greetings everyone
- Thread starter American Deist
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brightlights
A sinner
- Jul 31, 2004
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A PD Chaplain with a Doctorate in Theology and Divinity? A Christian Deist? You may be a unique animal around here.
Where did you study?
What is a Christian Deist?
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sunshineforJesus
is so in love with God
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Thanks for the welcome, and yes I realize I am "different" LOL! Not the first time that has turned some heads and caused some confused looks.
I studied at a small, non accredited school called Vanguard Theological Seminary (not related to my ministry) where I earned my Th.D. and was awarded an honorary D.Div. (hence h.c.) for some work that I did defining Christian Deism. Don't let the non accredited part fool you, because many Bible colleges and seminaries are not accredited, to include TNARS. They are not required to have secular accreditation because of the 1st Amendment (if USA based). The work load, however, was no joke!
To define Christian Deist I will need to break it down into two parts:
The Christian roots come from my growing up as a Baptist, being baptized at the age of 12, and following that denomination for 30 years. To be a Christian means that you follow Christ, and live accordingly. I do my best to follow Jesus' teachings on morality and compassion. Everything else is ceremonial and denominational specific. I am not traditional by any means, and will make that very clear up front.
Deism is a philosophy, not a religion, and it is entirely personal. It is the belief in God based on observations of nature in the world around us, or in studying the cosmos. One of my favorite hobbies is astronomy, and many nights you'll find me outside star gazing through my telescopes. When I look out into the world or the universe, I see design and purpose, not randomness. Deism also supports science, medicine and modern technology. God gave us intelligence, and so we should use it! You can't look at the Bible, which was written thousands of years ago, through a modern lens. Those biblical authors did not have telescopes or microscopes.
Many of the Founding Fathers of the USA were actually deists, and several identified as Christian Deists. That list includes Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, Ethan Allen, James Madison and yes, even George Washington. They may have attended a specific church, but their religious views definitely pointed to deism. Washington always referred to God as "Providence."
However, I don't want to give everything away in my intro, so I'll save some material for future forum posts.
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brightlights
A sinner
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However, I don't want to give everything away in my intro, so I'll save some material for future forum posts.
Thanks for the clarification and welcome to the forums. Two further clarification questions, if I may:
- Deism, to me, suggests that God is not involved in day-to-day affairs of the cosmos. Is this your view?
- Does "Christians Deism" mean Deism, as described in (1), with a Christian moral code?
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Journey.In.Grace
Daughter of the One True King
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Welcome to CF! I hope you are enjoying the forum so far, and if you have any question feel free to ask!
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Imnotjokingwellnotmostly
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I believe in free will as a gift to us from God. We are responsible for our actions and the consequences that come with them. We make our own choices, and we are in control of our destinies. I do not believe that God is in control of our lives because of it. If God were to intervene, it would no longer be free will. This is not to say that God does not grieve with us or become saddened when something bad happens, but non intervention is the ultimate "stand by your convictions."
This also explains why bad things happen to good people. If someone chooses to commit a crime, it affects someone else in a negative way. If your ancestors did something that affected your genetic line, then it could cause mutations to creep up (birth defects). If you smoke 2 packs of cigarettes a day and get lung cancer, that's on you. If two armies go to war, and the soldiers on both sides pray to God for protection and victory, does God flip a coin? No, of course not! People chose to become a soldier and they choose whether or not to pull the trigger.
#2 is one way to look at it, but runs a little deeper than that.
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