deism

Belief in a supreme being. The term usually refers to a movement in the 17th and 18th centuries characterized by the belief in a rational ‘religion of nature’ as opposed to the orthodox beliefs of Christianity. Deists believed that God is the source of natural law but does not intervene directly in the affairs of the world, and that the only religious duty of humanity is to be virtuous.

Deism emerged in England in the writings of Lord Herbert of Cherbury (1583-1648). John Toland (1670-1722) and Matthew Tindal (1657-1733) were among its major exponents. In France, the writer Voltaire was the most prominent advocate of deism. In the US, many of the founding fathers, including Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, were essentially deists. See also theism.

Deists believed in the light of nature and reason as a sufficient guide in doctrine and practice. This had much in common with later German rationalism.