English

Noun

Deism ‎(countable and uncountable, plural Deisms)

1. The religious philosophy and movement that became prominent in England, France, and the United States in the 17th and 18th centuries that rejects supernatural events (prophecy, miracles) and divine revelation prominent in organized religion, along with holy books and revealed religions that assert the existence of such things.
2. Alternative spelling of deism

Usage notes

Reference to the 17th and 18th century movement is more frequently capitalized, while reference to the general philosophy or belief is more frequently not capitalized.

Translations

Quotations

• For usage examples of this term, see Citations:deism.

Anagrams

• demis
• dimes
• disme

English

Alternative forms

• Deism

Noun

deism ‎(plural deisms)

1. A philosophical belief in the existence of a god (or goddess) knowable through human reason; especially, a belief in a creator god unaccompanied by any belief in supernatural phenomena or specific religious doctrines.
   • 1682, John Dryden, Religio Laici, Or A Layman's Faith:

     If my supposition be true, then the consequence which I have assumed in my Poem may be also true; namely, that Deism, or the principles of natural worship, are only the faint remnants or dying flames of reveal'd religion in the posterity of Noah.

   • 1847, Julius Charles Hare & Augustus William Hare, Guesses at Truth, p.39:

     As the Epicureans had a Deism without a God, so the Unitarians have a Christianity without a Christ, and a Jesus but no Saviour.

   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin 2010, page 786:

     In place of the idea which runs through the Tanakh and New Testament of a God intimately involved with his creation and providentially repeatedly intervening in it, there was the concept of a God who had certainly created the world and set up its laws in structures understandable by human reason, but who after that allowed it to go its own way, precisely because reason was one of his chief gifts to humanity, and order a gift to his creation. This was the approach to divinity known as deism.

Usage notes

The word is often capitalized when referring to the rise of such beliefs in 17th and 18th century Europe and America.

Coordinate terms

• (religions) religion; animism,‎ Asatru,‎ Bahá'í Faith,‎ Buddhism,‎ Cao Dai,‎ Christianity,‎ Confucianism,‎ deism,‎ Druidry,‎ Eckankar,‎ Heathenry,‎ Hinduism,‎ religious humanism,‎ Islam,‎ Jainism,‎ Judaism,‎ LaVeyanism,‎ Luciferianism,‎ New Age,‎ paganism,‎ Raëlism,‎ Rastafarianism,‎ santería,‎ Scientology,‎ shamanism,‎ Shinto,‎ Sikhism,‎ Spiritism,‎ Taoism,‎ Tengrism,‎ Tenrikyo,‎ Thelema,‎ Unitarian Universalism,‎ Wicca,‎ Yoruba,‎ Zoroastrianism ^{(Category: en:Religion) [edit]}

Quotations

• For usage examples of this term, see Citations:deism.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• clockwork universe
• theism

Anagrams

• demis, dimes, disme

Estonian

Noun

deism ‎(genitive [please provide], partitive [please provide])

1. deism

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowing from French déisme.

Noun

deism n ‎(uncountable)

1. deism

Declension

Swedish

Noun

deism c

1. deism

Declension