Having been raised a strict Roman Catholic many years ago, I now find myself at one of those religious crossroads in an effort to define what, how and who I believe in, spiritually, and share some Godly thoughts.
To my right, there is Deism, a somewhat vague term for an epistemological belief which depends solely on reasoning the acceptance of a certain body of religious knowledge. This is either inborn in most people or acquired along with rejections of religious knowledge when obtained through revelations or teachings of any church.
My personal disagreement here is the Deist belief that three persons in one true God is irrational while focusing on the almighty’s non-intervention in our world, even though the very existence of God is acknowledged to a point but the creator is indifferent to the world.
On my left is Theism, the view that all limited or finite things are dependent in some way on one supreme or ultimate reality of which one may speak in personal terms. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, this reality is often called God along with the belief that this God is actively engaged with the universe in some way and guides His creation. There is a shared belief from both sides here that affirms God’s intelligence and a real moral order in the world.
Although Deism does closely resemble Theism, the Deist God is not involved in the world in the same personal way as the Theist God who allows the world to continue in its own way, subject to a final, almost remote control. This outlook simplifies some problems with God off in the shadows or beyond even as people continue to centre their lives around Him. A Deist then proceeds as if there were no God, or just an absent one. This approach is especially true of humans’ understanding of the world and why Deism did appeal to so many in historical religious references where time was allowed for God but followers had no need of that hypothesis in their normal account of things. Religion was significant only in a manner which involved little else in the world or human life.
On the other hand, Theists, such as myself, question this view and seek in various ways to bring humanity’s relation to God into closer involvement with the way they understand themselves and the world around them.
From the Writer’s Workshop…Write a post in exactly 13 sentences.
