Yes, that's right, Archaic Truth had to write a paper on a subject concerning early America. Maybe when hell freezes over suckers, fortunately I managed to convince my teacher to allow me to write a paper on a subject that actually interests me and just give a connection to early America. You're all gonna have to bear with me, as I know this paper is not as good as I'd like it to be, but the books I used as citation sources came in three days before the paper was due so unfortunately getting the job done is a lot more important than quality. In any case, I'd like to hear what everyone thinks, any false information I may have given, or what I could have done better.'
Nicholas Kelly
Mrs. Jaunkaskis
HHE II
October 8, 2007
Analysis of Deism
The real truth is, you dont know anything. Since the beginning of time, man has sought and fought for the answers, and until we hit the gutter well never know if those answers are true or false. We can hope though, that one source that is within our reach will give us the real answers, logic. If something is logically correct, then we must usually assume it to be true since we have no other available option. For thousands of years man relied on revealed truth for all the answers, bashing all who would rely on logic, but then something happened. A powerful and new way of thinking emerged that bridged the supernatural with the logical thinking process that was becoming almost a fad in 17th century Europe and later America. That new way and awesome way of thinking was Deism, the marriage of Science and Religion.
Deism was a new way of thinking, resulting from the many new scientific discoveries such as Newtons laws. It was an attempt to unify religion and logic, to expel superstition and glorify the God given -reason (that which makes [us] man) (Deism and Natural Religion, xi). Deism turned away revealed truths such as those found in the bible, in favor of the opinion that they could find the true nature of the universe and all of the answers through logical and scientific analysis of the world and the nature of mans existence. Deism can best be summed up by a set of five rules:
1) All men possess the faculty of reason adequate to all the important needs of human life. (x)
Pretty much this says that reason will provide us with everything we need. Logic will provide a man with food, shelter, family, clothing, everything that one cannot live without.
2) Reason, the image of God in man, can know God and Gods will (x)
For a long time, whenever Gods will or actions were questioned, the answer from the religious leaders was that Gods will was above you and way out of your sphere of comprehensions league. Deists on the other hand were absolutely sure that their way of thinking would lead them one day to see God and all of his wonder and to understand exactly what God was.
3) Mans duty is to do Gods will = mans duty is to seek the happiness of all men (x)
The official Deism view of God is contestable at best, though it was common ground among Deists that God did not interfere in human life, and it was mainstream accepted that God was kind and moral in nature. Any Deists who thought otherwise of Gods love were usually more nihilistic in nature.
4) Man has always had this possibility of knowledge of the good, or natural religion. (x)
This speaks a lot about mans history, reminding us of the suppression of logical thought by religion for ages upon ages. This rule was used a lot in arguing against other theological schools of thought by saying that natural religion -- or logic -- has been around as long as mankind.
5) No religion can be higher then natural religion (x)
No kind or mode of thought is higher then reasoning and logic. Anything and everything that was illogical or irrational was frowned upon with great contempt by deists. Deists knew that if an action or event went against your logic, something was wrong. It was by these five main principals that Deism was founded on, and although Deism was found wanting by atheism and theism in many areas, it still served its purpose in furthering along the already broadening prospective of the philosophical minds of the world.
It can easily be argued that Christianity has been the most influential, greatest and most powerful religion man has ever seen. Many Deists, who were in fact pious Christians were thought to be Atheists and heretics and punished for preaching and publishing their ideas. While it truly can be called into question whether some Deists were really Christians, or even Deists at all for that matter, most Deist thinkers of that age were in fact followers of Christ. They just viewed Christ and the Bible in a different fashion according to their logical belief system. Lots of Deists viewed the Bible as a book that needed to be interpreted allegorically, such as Thomas Woolston; "And the way in prophecy that I would take for the proof of Jesus' Messiahship should be by an allegorical interpretation and application of the law and the prophets to him..." (Deism and Natural Religion, 66). The Bible, like God, was also thought to be able to be interpreted and understood by reason. Deists like John Toland attempted to argue that the mysteries and miracles of the Gospel and Scripture could all be understood by common logic, saying that "...There is nothing in the Gospel contrary to reason, nor above it; and that no Christian doctrine can be properly called a mystery." (4). Then there were those of course who broke the chain entirely, and completely discredited the Bible and all revealed truths. Ensuing retribution from religious groups usually put down such arguments, but the damage had been done, the questions had been asked, and the money had been put where the mouth was.
It was the Newtonian model of the universe that gave way to Deism in Europe, and eventually America in the early 1700s. Deism had a very vital impact on America, as it was the belief system of many great American thinkers, one of the more famous being Benjamin Franklin, who at an early age was vowed to the cult of Reason and Liberty (Deism in Eighteenth Century America, 63). Benjamin wrote many theological and philosophical papers that greatly influenced Deism, such as his Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain. That particular paper of Benjamin looked at the judging nature of God and the difference between virtue and vice, saying that:
[An] all-wise, all-good, and all-powerful God would naturally allow only virtue to prevail and so the entire question of evil was a foolish one. Moreover, every one acted necessarily in accordance with the edicts of the deity and therefore if a thief stole something, God had to find the robber as virtuous as his victim.
-Deism in Eighteenth Century America, 64
Although many Deists such as Benjamin were professed Christians, not all remained so tethered to the traditional religions of the world such as Christianity. It was really in America that Deists began to reject more revealed truths and substitute laws and ideas in from their own logical processes in for the dogmas and holy books of traditional religion, such as depicted in this passage:
American deists used the work of [science] to advance their own views. Newton had demonstrated that the Supreme Being always acted according to general edicts. Then why, asked the deists, should men feel that He should reveal Himself to any particular group and therefore do one thing in respect to Nature and another thing in regard to man?
- Deism in Eighteenth Century America, 56
Although, like any theological school of thought, Deists could never agree on anything, it is abundantly clear that the new ways of thinking represented by Deism had a grand and lasting impact on America as well as the rest of the thinking community.
New things are always good, as they have the chance of being better than their predecessors. Deism was certainly something new, something revolutionary. The lasting impression it made on the thinkers of the world is astronomical, and we can only hope that more new things come our way, so we may better our world.
Works Cited
Gay, Peter. Deism: An Anthology. Princeton, New Jersey: D. Van Nostrand Company, INC., 1968.
Morais, M. Herbert. Deism in Eighteenth Century America. New York: Russel and Russel, 1960.
Waring, E. Graham. Deism and Natural Religion. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1967.
Nicholas Kelly
Mrs. Jaunkaskis
HHE II
October 8, 2007
Analysis of Deism
The real truth is, you dont know anything. Since the beginning of time, man has sought and fought for the answers, and until we hit the gutter well never know if those answers are true or false. We can hope though, that one source that is within our reach will give us the real answers, logic. If something is logically correct, then we must usually assume it to be true since we have no other available option. For thousands of years man relied on revealed truth for all the answers, bashing all who would rely on logic, but then something happened. A powerful and new way of thinking emerged that bridged the supernatural with the logical thinking process that was becoming almost a fad in 17th century Europe and later America. That new way and awesome way of thinking was Deism, the marriage of Science and Religion.
Deism was a new way of thinking, resulting from the many new scientific discoveries such as Newtons laws. It was an attempt to unify religion and logic, to expel superstition and glorify the God given -reason (that which makes [us] man) (Deism and Natural Religion, xi). Deism turned away revealed truths such as those found in the bible, in favor of the opinion that they could find the true nature of the universe and all of the answers through logical and scientific analysis of the world and the nature of mans existence. Deism can best be summed up by a set of five rules:
1) All men possess the faculty of reason adequate to all the important needs of human life. (x)
Pretty much this says that reason will provide us with everything we need. Logic will provide a man with food, shelter, family, clothing, everything that one cannot live without.
2) Reason, the image of God in man, can know God and Gods will (x)
For a long time, whenever Gods will or actions were questioned, the answer from the religious leaders was that Gods will was above you and way out of your sphere of comprehensions league. Deists on the other hand were absolutely sure that their way of thinking would lead them one day to see God and all of his wonder and to understand exactly what God was.
3) Mans duty is to do Gods will = mans duty is to seek the happiness of all men (x)
The official Deism view of God is contestable at best, though it was common ground among Deists that God did not interfere in human life, and it was mainstream accepted that God was kind and moral in nature. Any Deists who thought otherwise of Gods love were usually more nihilistic in nature.
4) Man has always had this possibility of knowledge of the good, or natural religion. (x)
This speaks a lot about mans history, reminding us of the suppression of logical thought by religion for ages upon ages. This rule was used a lot in arguing against other theological schools of thought by saying that natural religion -- or logic -- has been around as long as mankind.
5) No religion can be higher then natural religion (x)
No kind or mode of thought is higher then reasoning and logic. Anything and everything that was illogical or irrational was frowned upon with great contempt by deists. Deists knew that if an action or event went against your logic, something was wrong. It was by these five main principals that Deism was founded on, and although Deism was found wanting by atheism and theism in many areas, it still served its purpose in furthering along the already broadening prospective of the philosophical minds of the world.
It can easily be argued that Christianity has been the most influential, greatest and most powerful religion man has ever seen. Many Deists, who were in fact pious Christians were thought to be Atheists and heretics and punished for preaching and publishing their ideas. While it truly can be called into question whether some Deists were really Christians, or even Deists at all for that matter, most Deist thinkers of that age were in fact followers of Christ. They just viewed Christ and the Bible in a different fashion according to their logical belief system. Lots of Deists viewed the Bible as a book that needed to be interpreted allegorically, such as Thomas Woolston; "And the way in prophecy that I would take for the proof of Jesus' Messiahship should be by an allegorical interpretation and application of the law and the prophets to him..." (Deism and Natural Religion, 66). The Bible, like God, was also thought to be able to be interpreted and understood by reason. Deists like John Toland attempted to argue that the mysteries and miracles of the Gospel and Scripture could all be understood by common logic, saying that "...There is nothing in the Gospel contrary to reason, nor above it; and that no Christian doctrine can be properly called a mystery." (4). Then there were those of course who broke the chain entirely, and completely discredited the Bible and all revealed truths. Ensuing retribution from religious groups usually put down such arguments, but the damage had been done, the questions had been asked, and the money had been put where the mouth was.
It was the Newtonian model of the universe that gave way to Deism in Europe, and eventually America in the early 1700s. Deism had a very vital impact on America, as it was the belief system of many great American thinkers, one of the more famous being Benjamin Franklin, who at an early age was vowed to the cult of Reason and Liberty (Deism in Eighteenth Century America, 63). Benjamin wrote many theological and philosophical papers that greatly influenced Deism, such as his Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain. That particular paper of Benjamin looked at the judging nature of God and the difference between virtue and vice, saying that:
[An] all-wise, all-good, and all-powerful God would naturally allow only virtue to prevail and so the entire question of evil was a foolish one. Moreover, every one acted necessarily in accordance with the edicts of the deity and therefore if a thief stole something, God had to find the robber as virtuous as his victim.
-Deism in Eighteenth Century America, 64
Although many Deists such as Benjamin were professed Christians, not all remained so tethered to the traditional religions of the world such as Christianity. It was really in America that Deists began to reject more revealed truths and substitute laws and ideas in from their own logical processes in for the dogmas and holy books of traditional religion, such as depicted in this passage:
American deists used the work of [science] to advance their own views. Newton had demonstrated that the Supreme Being always acted according to general edicts. Then why, asked the deists, should men feel that He should reveal Himself to any particular group and therefore do one thing in respect to Nature and another thing in regard to man?
- Deism in Eighteenth Century America, 56
Although, like any theological school of thought, Deists could never agree on anything, it is abundantly clear that the new ways of thinking represented by Deism had a grand and lasting impact on America as well as the rest of the thinking community.
New things are always good, as they have the chance of being better than their predecessors. Deism was certainly something new, something revolutionary. The lasting impression it made on the thinkers of the world is astronomical, and we can only hope that more new things come our way, so we may better our world.
Works Cited
Gay, Peter. Deism: An Anthology. Princeton, New Jersey: D. Van Nostrand Company, INC., 1968.
Morais, M. Herbert. Deism in Eighteenth Century America. New York: Russel and Russel, 1960.
Waring, E. Graham. Deism and Natural Religion. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1967.
