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Deism

Fritz

Fritz

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Deism is in a strange place right now for it was VERY popular among intellectuals in the Age of Enlightenment, especially among the Founding Fathers of the US. Today though, it is extremely obscure, and I just know about it be reading some of Voltaire's work and the Internet.

Deism has its own website here: Welcome To The Deism Site!

What is your opinion on Deism? I think its a pretty good philosophical belief and I'd follow it...
 
Fritz said:
Deism is in a strange place right now for it was VERY popular among intellectuals in the Age of Enlightenment, especially among the Founding Fathers of the US. Today though, it is extremely obscure, and I just know about it be reading some of Voltaire's work and the Internet.

Deism has its own website here: Welcome To The Deism Site!

What is your opinion on Deism? I think its a pretty good philosophical belief and I'd follow it...
Click to expand...

Deism used to be for atheists in a time when heresy was punishable by death.

Deism today is for atheists who don't have the balls to fully commit, or for the west's version of Buddhists.
 
Fritz said:
What is your opinion on Deism? I think its a pretty good philosophical belief and I'd follow it...
Click to expand...
Deism represents the thoroughly rational view of God and the cosmos.
Both Theism and scientism are based on faith.
Atheism is based on a logical fallacy.
 
Gonzo Rodeo is, of course, wrong. Atheism in the 18th and 19th centuries was not punishable by death. Deism, the religious faith of an impersonal God who creates Creation and then walks away, was embraced by those of the Enlightenment thinks, atheists and believers in something. American leaders who had problematic issues with faith, such as Washington and Madison, used the language of Deism.

Jefferson's great contribution would the "humanizing" of the concept, that the Creator designed a universe in which a Supreme Moral Teacher, such as Jesus, would bring the love of service to others and charty to all to a cold world.

Jefferson Deism is enjoying a mild resurgence in the US.
 
Fritz said:
Deism is in a strange place right now for it was VERY popular among intellectuals in the Age of Enlightenment, especially among the Founding Fathers of the US. Today though, it is extremely obscure, and I just know about it be reading some of Voltaire's work and the Internet.

Deism has its own website here: Welcome To The Deism Site!

What is your opinion on Deism? I think its a pretty good philosophical belief and I'd follow it...
Click to expand...

The idea that deism was "very popular" among the founding fathers is nothing but historical revisionist nonsense. A very small number of founders were deists. The overwhelming​ majority were Christians. Get over it.
 
_Sal said:
:shock:

um no they were not
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Believe what you will, but it is recorded in history. Not sure why that bothers you libs so. :shrug:
 
JamesBY is, of course, trying to shoehorn Jesus into Jefferson's wholesale rejection of the Christian mythos.
 
Gonzo Rodeo said:
JamesBY is, of course, trying to shoehorn Jesus into Jefferson's wholesale rejection of the Christian mythos.
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You haven't read the Jefferson Bible have you?

http://uuhouston.org/files/The_Jefferson_Bible.pdf

I'm a Jefferson Deist myself. I consider Jesus to be one of the greatest humans to have ever lived. And find no flaws in his philosophy as presented from Jefferson's point of view. In fact I think his message is much more compelling if you consider him a human being and not the son of the wizard living in the sky.
 
ThoughtEx. said:
You haven't read the Jefferson Bible have you?

http://uuhouston.org/files/The_Jefferson_Bible.pdf

I'm a Jefferson Deist myself. I consider Jesus to be one of the greatest humans to have ever lived. And find no flaws in his philosophy as presented from Jefferson's point of view. In fact I think his message is much more compelling if you consider him a human being and not the son of the wizard living in the sky.
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Thanks. I meant to read that at some point. Now I have a copy saved.
 
ThoughtEx. said:
You haven't read the Jefferson Bible have you?

http://uuhouston.org/files/The_Jefferson_Bible.pdf

I'm a Jefferson Deist myself. I consider Jesus to be one of the greatest humans to have ever lived. And find no flaws in his philosophy as presented from Jefferson's point of view. In fact I think his message is much more compelling if you consider him a human being and not the son of the wizard living in the sky.
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...which would be a wholesale rejection of the Christian mythos.
 
ThoughtEx. said:
You haven't read the Jefferson Bible have you?

http://uuhouston.org/files/The_Jefferson_Bible.pdf

I'm a Jefferson Deist myself. I consider Jesus to be one of the greatest humans to have ever lived. And find no flaws in his philosophy as presented from Jefferson's point of view. In fact I think his message is much more compelling if you consider him a human being and not the son of the wizard living in the sky.
Click to expand...


How can you think that a "liar" is one of the greatest humans to have ever lived?


If His philosophy is so perfect (since you find no flaws in it).....then why can't you accept His claim as
the Son of God?


If He's not who He said He is, then why did He willingly sacrifice Himself, and die for mankind?
What kind of philosophy is that? Dying for a lie?
 
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ThoughtEx. said:
You haven't read the Jefferson Bible have you?

http://uuhouston.org/files/The_Jefferson_Bible.pdf

I'm a Jefferson Deist myself. I consider Jesus to be one of the greatest humans to have ever lived. And find no flaws in his philosophy as presented from Jefferson's point of view. In fact I think his message is much more compelling if you consider him a human being and not the son of the wizard living in the sky.
Click to expand...

Can you explain what's so special about Jesus' philosophy?
 
tosca1 said:
How can you think that a "liar" is one of the greatest humans to have ever lived?


If His philosophy is so perfect (since you find no flaws in it).....then why can't you accept His claim as
the Son of God?


If He's not who He said He is, then why did He willingly sacrifice Himself, and die for mankind?
What kind of philosophy is that? Dying for a lie?
Click to expand...

You have absolutely no contemporary records of what Jesus did or didn't do. You do have accounts written hundreds of years after the fact, and edited for thousands of years in the interim. You can only take the divinity of Christ on faith, and sincerely hope it wasn't added by messianic Jews who perverted the philosophy of a remarkable man to suit their own ends.
 
Fritz said:
Deism is in a strange place right now for it was VERY popular among intellectuals in the Age of Enlightenment, especially among the Founding Fathers of the US. Today though, it is extremely obscure, and I just know about it be reading some of Voltaire's work and the Internet.

Deism has its own website here: Welcome To The Deism Site!

What is your opinion on Deism? I think its a pretty good philosophical belief and I'd follow it...
Click to expand...

I vacillate between being somewhat deist and atheist all the time. I think it's natural for anyone with an open mind to do that. After all, we do not know for sure that there is not a creator who set all this in motion...and, sometimes, I swear I can see exactly how one did.
 
Gonzo Rodeo said:
Deism used to be for atheists in a time when heresy was punishable by death.

Deism today is for atheists who don't have the balls to fully commit, or for the west's version of Buddhists.
Click to expand...

Balls or just doubts. I tend to lean toward doubts. And, having doubts about the existence or not of some supreme being is perfectly acceptable.
 
Angel said:
Deism represents the thoroughly rational view of God and the cosmos.
Both Theism and scientism are based on faith.
Atheism is based on a logical fallacy.
Click to expand...

I might agree with this. But, you'd have to push the definition of "atheism" past just non-belief. Once the atheist does that, begins actually believing that a supreme being does not exist, then yes. It is illogical.
 
spud_meister said:
You have absolutely no contemporary records of what Jesus did or didn't do. You do have accounts written hundreds of years after the fact, and edited for thousands of years in the interim. You can only take the divinity of Christ on faith, and sincerely hope it wasn't added by messianic Jews who perverted the philosophy of a remarkable man to suit their own ends.
Click to expand...

Irrelevant.

I'm asking the poster some questions, all based on his statement.
 
calamity said:
I might agree with this. But, you'd have to push the definition of "atheism" past just non-belief. Once the atheist does that, begins actually believing that a supreme being does not exist, then yes. It is illogical.
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Baloney!

You guys just try to create some legroom because of your difficult cramped position as atheists!


Ironically, it's atheists like Dawkins who peddles rational thinking and open-mindedness - and yet to be an atheist forces one to be close-minded!
So now.....because they're looking like the idiots who babbles about rationality, they know they've got to do something. Thus, they try to re-invent atheism! :lol:


Either you're agnostic, or you're an atheist!
Once you consider the possibility of the existence of God, you're no longer an atheist! That makes you agnostic!
 
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tosca1 said:
Either you're agnostic, or you're an atheist!
Once you consider the possibility of the existence of God, you're no longer an atheist! That makes you agnostic!
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Not really. There are days when I am absolutely sure no supreme being exists. And, there are some days when I would certainly say that something just might be out there, somewhere. But, the bottom line, it's unknowable...and, that is agnostic.
 
calamity said:
Not really. There are days when I am absolutely sure no supreme being exists. And, there are some days when I would certainly say that something just might be out there, somewhere. But, the bottom line, it's unknowable...and, that is agnostic.
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Who doesn't get into doubts? When life gets hard, how many Christians entertain doubts about their faith? But how many really actually stop believing that there is a God? A lot of former Christians re-invent their God.

You are agnostic. You just don't want to admit it even to yourself.
I understand you better now - all the negative and rhetorics of ridicule you spout about God.....is for your own benefit. You're fighting it. You're having a battle within you.

For someone who claim to be an atheist - you go to great lengths to convince us (more likely to convince yourself), that there is no God. Thou protest too much......and you can't just let it go. :lol:


You have a conflict within you. Speaking as a Christian - that could be God is trying to draw you to Him.
Stop fighting it. Take the next step. Believe that He exists.
 
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calamity said:
Balls or just doubts. I tend to lean toward doubts. And, having doubts about the existence or not of some supreme being is perfectly acceptable.
Click to expand...

Deism either requires the invention of a supreme being, which makes it little different than any other kind of theism with a creation myth, or it requires such a vagueness and intentional lack of definition that might as well be a no-god scenario anyway.

So, I'll revise my earlier statememt: Deism is for atheists and theists alike who either lack the balls to defend their convictions, or the skills to do so.
 
Fritz said:
Deism is in a strange place right now for it was VERY popular among intellectuals in the Age of Enlightenment, especially among the Founding Fathers of the US. Today though, it is extremely obscure, and I just know about it be reading some of Voltaire's work and the Internet.

Deism has its own website here: Welcome To The Deism Site!

What is your opinion on Deism? I think its a pretty good philosophical belief and I'd follow it...
Click to expand...

I've been a Deist for many years.

To me, it's the only expression of belief in God that makes sense.

Glad to see it's gaining in popularity.

Maybe there's hope after all.

:ind:
 
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