Philosophy of Religion · God's relation to the world

Deism

God made the world and gave it laws, but has not intervened since.

What it claims

Deism accepts God as creator but denies revelation, miracles, and providential intervention. What it denies is not God's existence but God's continuing involvement; answered prayer, miracles, and special revelation are all ruled out. The position took shape in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England and France.

Nearby positions

Key thinkers

John Toland · Matthew Tindal · Voltaire · Thomas Paine