What is the Deist View on One God or Monotheism?
Well, as always the question is answered differently by different deists but this is one there is largely a consensus on. Most deists would say, indeed there is “one creator”, one supreme intelligence but many different views of that exist. Again I can only give you my view.
I would define God as a singularity. I personally define God sum total of all consciousness and intelligence that exists in the entirety of all space, matter, time and dimension. Some would call this pantheism, most of those that do so with any negativity are followers of one of the revealed religions.
Pantheism is simply defined as, “the view that everything is part of an all-encompassing immanent God,or that the universe, nature, god and divinity are all identical.” A lot of evangelical pastors get their panties in a wad over pantheism stating that it basically says that everything is god, hence man is god. This is simply typical defensive religion, acting out when anything challenges their view of faith.
Frankly pantheism is a far more inclusive view of what Christians call “the body of Christ”. To say that we and everything else that exists is a part of God is not to say that we are all God, that is just nonsense. That would be like saying since your big toe on your left foot is part of you, your toe is you. Cut off your toe and you still exist, incinerate it, compost it or feed it to a dog and you still exist do you not? Yet while attached to you it is part of you right? If you stub it you feel pain, if it is tickled you laugh, if you get a foot rub you feel pleasure or if you get bit by an ant on it you itch.
This is why I choose to use my reason to see God as a singularity. I believe that you and I and my dog and all energy and consciousness are part of God, yet that singularity exists in a single point as well. In fact reason would lead us to believe that this is the only way God could be omnipotent and omnipresent. For God to know you as well as you know yourself God would have to be part of you, see though your eyes and understand the world and the universe as it exists in your heart.
Think about it this way, the creator cannot be omnipresent if God only sees the universe or more accurately the multiverses as they exist for God. God must know how all things exist for all beings. This is how I view God, a singularity of all consciousness and intelligence that is connected to the same.
Hi,
I just came across this site today, fantastic! On a lot of deist sites they basically say we believe in God based on reason, and then go attacking other religions. They rarely address issues like monotheism, the afterlife, and whether God intervenes or not.
I tend to think God is basically “hands off” the only intervention I could truly see would be on the large or macro level, if that.
Maybe in future posts you could address such areas as Christian Deism, Omnipotence, Materialism, Evolution etc.
Thank you for your suggestions, this site is just sort of a hobby of mine, I hope it grows big enough to add a forum at some point. I appreciate your suggestions and will try to come up with some stuff like that. I need more ideas so keep them coming.
Maybe you could expand on Pantheism and how it relates to deism?
Deism and pantheism have much in common. The universe is the work of God, we can only try to know God through it: this leads us to love the Creation, study her, feel awe and wonder for her. Pantheists do this with the Universe, because it is God himself. Here we met.
To modern Deist cant you evolve your theorys of the afterlife not facts ofcourse just your own thoughts like you shared on previous page. liked the e.g japan going to USa. but want your theorys if thats like an afterlife in your own consuseness or that a GOD have created the place and can there be something after except reincarnation. like evolving to e.g a Deamon or towards a God like image. can that be that this is just the beggining and there are something more then just eternal life afterwards that maybe GOD’s started out on a planet then evolved true afterlifes and became the GOD.s we know them as. or explain your theory of how Deist creator became the craetor and if there’s only one? or for bad energy like childkillers 2 creators that handle that negative energy. or do you believe(please answer) that it doesnt matter what you done in life that you and a pedophile will have same conditions in the afterlife please write your thoughst about that.
Deism and pantheism are poles apart, you need to cleean-up your theology. Pantheism already is well represented, we need a clear Deist group, not just another group of pantheists!
@Mike, perhaps you should
1. Actually read the post rather than just the title.
2. Stop telling other free beings what they need to do.
Do you think this view is closer to panentheism since you don’t want to confine it to pantheism?
Closer to, closer to than what?
In essence no though because I find pantheism to be nothing but a made up word designed to slander anything that opposes the “church” by saying what is obvious. God is one with all things. That is real pantheism but the word has been ruined by those in power. They make it mean worship of everything or worship of nature.
Some have embraced the word and called themselves Pantheists, I think most are actually Deists and just don’t know it.
Do you think it is Closer to your view when it comes panentheism vs. Pantheism as compared to deism, pantheism being the one you are against.
Well first I am not “against” Pantheism. And again I am not really concerned about such things as is my view closer to what some call X and some call Y. My beliefs are Deist, I believe in a creator and believe we can best know the creator through the creation itself.
Generally Pantheists revere nature, “God is in the Tree so the Tree is a Miracle of Creation”, I agree with that. Of course the establishment says the Pantheist therefore worships the Tree. This is silliness.
If I had to best explain pantheism as PRACTICED by most who call themselves such I would call it Traditional Paganism with the “God and Goddess” removed and replaced with a monotheistic spirit. It is actually a form of Deism to be truthful, with something put into it for those conditioned to need more “structure”.
Maybe it is just me but this reminds me more of panentheism (could this be considered a form of deism?), not pantheism:
“This is why I choose to use my reason to see God as a singularity. I believe that you and I and my dog and all energy and consciousness are part of God, yet that singularity exists in a single point as well.”
Panentheism – A panentheistic belief system is one which posits a god that interpenetrates every part of nature, but is nevertheless fully distinct from nature. So this god is part of nature, but still retains an independent identity.
I really see the difference between pantheism and panentheism as sort of splitting hairs that really have no need of being split.
It is like asking which water is wetter. There actually is an answer and honestly a correct one but it doesn’t change anything.
The deist should be clear that he loves, respects and examines nature and the universe because they are the Work of God: If nature and the universe is God, it is pantheism, an immanent god. The deist God is transcendent, separate from Creation.
Of course we can pray. Pray to thank the creator, yourself, the universe for yourself, for life, for your ability think, to solve problems, to wonder, to be a skeptic.
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Everything posted made a ton of sense. However, what about this?
what if you composed a catchier post title? I am not saying your content is not good, however suppose
you added something that grabbed people’s attention? I mean What is the
Deist View on One God or Monotheism?
I basically think the same way. How I came to this is the theory of the Biocentric universe aka Bicentrism by Dr. Robert Lanza. So I consider myself as a Biocentric Deist.
First Randy, thank you for telling me about Lanza, I really like that he made this theory known. It bugs me just a bit in my research that Lanza though is seen as the source of this concept. Every read Illusions by Richard Bach? I think what he did was add the math to a quite ancient theory.
I wrote a science paper in High School in I guess 88 called Religious Misconceptions and Scientific Jokes (got an F on it by the way because I didn’t cite sources and do what I was asked, so much for free thinking) that postulated the non existence of both time and space and man as co-creator of the universe.
It was not close to as polished as Lanza’s work, but I was fing 16 years old. The core though is identical and I don’t even know how I knew what I knew. Later when I found authors like Richard Bach and James Redfield it all made a lot more sense. Seeing this all validated by a guy with Lanza’s genius is very exciting though.
Is there a afterlife? No one alive to tell.I believe in evolution created by one god then left to multiply its self .We are such a fine machine , some thing had to assist us in are completion.Does this make me close to a Deist ?? john john