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Deism: Transpersonal God
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Deism is similar to theism, pantheism, and polytheism in that it advocates a belief in a god or gods, as opposed to atheism which posits no god of any kind. Deism is dissimilar as well. It is not a well defined religious belief system but Deism generally can be called a natural religion which accepts a body of religious knowledge acquired solely by the use of reason as opposed to revelation or dogmatic instruction. Another general characteristic of Deism is the reduction of God's function in creation to that of first cause only, with no further involvement. Deists generally reject the Trinity, the incarnation, the divine origin and authority of the Bible, the atonement, miracles, particular elect people such as Israel, and supernatural redemptive acts in history. 7
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In its early days, Deism was not as skeptical about traditional Christian views of God as it would become later. In fact, early on it could be viewed as a revival of the natural theology of Thomas Aquinas in which nature teaches all people certain truths about God. Lord Herbert, himself, believed that natural theology supported Christian beliefs about God. Eventually, though, Deism came to be an alternative view to Christianity. Matthew Tindal (1655–1733) published Christianity as Old as the Creation which became known as the ‘Bible of Deism.’ In this work he argued a point that would become a central thesis of Deism—reason is superior to revelation. Thus, if the alleged truths of reason contradict the Christian message, a person should trust his own reason.
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Unlike Theism, Deism has no Religions nor Denomination as of yet and may never. However, each Deist like each Theist must develop their own beliefs within the context of the Transpersonal God. This is why there is so much diversity within Deism. It is not a religion but a category of belief.
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The term "Deism" originally referred to a belief in one deity, as contrasted with the belief in no God (Atheism) and belief in many Gods (Polytheism). During the later 17th century, "Deism" began to refer to forms of radical Christianity - belief systems that rejected miracles, revelation, and the inerrancy of the Bible. Currently, Deism is no longer associated with Christianity or any other established religion. Then, as now, Deism is not a religious movement in the conventional sense of the world. There is no Deistic network of places of worship, a priesthood or hierarchy of authority.
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Deism would reach its high water mark in the years following the revolution. In the North there was a growing acceptance of Unitarianism and Universalism. Universalism, for instance, was based on a profound faith in the goodness of God, a central conviction in the Age of Reason. Defenders of revealed religion felt themselves hard pressed by advocates of rational religion. Of the nine congregational churches in Boston only one still adhered to orthodoxy at the beginning of nineteenth century. The same was true throughout New England.
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Cult: In Deism, a cult is an embracing of unreasonable beliefs by a group of people. Based on this definition, Judaism, Christianity and Islam are all cults because their members suspend their God-given reason in order to believe or accept the unreasonable dogmas and teachings such as God giving real estate as a gift to the Jews, the resurrection and ascension of Jesus and Mohammed among many more false and unreasonable claims. Because Deism always promotes free and independent thought and reason, it is impossible for Deism to become a cult.
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