Are diests really different from the Christian view? (Jesus Christ, Deists)

[Green Gaia]

true blood, what is your definition of a deist?

[Mr Spinkles]

I don't think the government should stop people from praying...but I don't think the government should promote any religion above any others, either. Students should be allowed to pray in school, read their Bibles, etc. etc. as long as it doesn't interfere with the curriculum. That's fine by me. I just don't think the government should have its employees (i.e. teachers) indoctrinating kids into any certain religion (Christianity, Islam, etc)--our government should never promote one religion over another, and public schoolteachers are representatives of our government.

[true blood]

Originally Posted by Maize

true blood, what is your definition of a deist?

A person who believes in the existance of a deity who created the universe but allows his creation, namely the people of the planet, to use their free will to operate.

[DrM]

Originally Posted by Rex_Admin

All this talk about who wrote the constitution and what are they, and what affiliation are the founding fathers.

Of course we recognize them as diests which just means they didn't think the bible was holy and they didn't believe in the trinity but they still had the Christian view with the Christian God right?

If that is the case then the diests who founded the US was based on Christian Views.


right?

Deism is belief in God. This belief can be exercised in many different ways including Christianity. I know Deists today who choose to worship in various religious places including Christian, Universalist, Judaism, et. al. So, some do believe the bible is/was holy and some of the founding fathers worshipped in this belief.

"Deism," as regarded by the founding fathers is tautamount to "Catholic", or universal rather than a reference to a particular system of worship such as Christianity.

[DianeVera]

Originally Posted by Rex_Admin

TrueBlood I am going to have to disagree. Being a Deist means you have the belief that "organized" religion is not for you even though Jefferson and others believed in the "Christian" God.

Why do you insist that the God of Deists is the "Christian" God? As someone else detailed earlier in this thread, Deist theology is radically different from Christian theology. For example, Deists don't believe in the Bible as divine revelation -- that's a crucial difference

SOME Deists may identify as "Christian" in the sense of agreeing with the ethical teachings of Jesus, but the ethical teachings of Jesus are not the main point of Christianity in general, nor is acceptance of the ethical teachings of Jesus intrinsic to Deism. Moreover, to the extent that some Deists do agree with any of the teachings of Jesus, they do so from a humanistic standpoint, not a divine command theory of morality.

[DrM]

If you are truly a Deist, there is but one God which is the God of creation, reason and nature. The absence of dogma does not negate the validity of God. The absence of dogma brings reason to "belief".

This does not indicate that Deists are absent of ethics. We are more prone to ethical behavior because we do not have our minds in the heavens but on our fellow man.

[scitsofreaky]

I think that the deists of the revolutionary era, or more specifically the founding fathers, were influenced more by christianity then we are today. In fact, Jefferson believe that Jesus was a deist who was trying to show the Jews the errors of their beliefs. But today it is debated among deists if Jesus even existed.
DrM gave a very good definition of deism (have some frubals) which encompasses all of the deists. Deism is actually a very diverse group of people, and no one seems to agree 100% with someone eles' beliefs.

[DeadVegas]

I'm not certain that I am a diest. I have a very unique view and I've been looking for help "naming" my religion. I believe in God. I believe Jesus was most likely the son of God. I don't know for certain but it seems right to me. But the kicker is that I believe a lot of the Bible is false. I believe it was written by man as an attempt to create a book about God that people could follow, but in the process they put a lot of their own beliefs in it. So, I don't take the Bible as a perfect book but some of it I do agree with.

I would guess this makes me a Christian but most Christians around me think I'm out of my mind. If only they knew skeletons didn't have brains.

[Silicon Hero]

Lol. I Am almost exactly like that. Seriously. You wold probably fit in with a Methodist Church the best.

[Unphased]

A Methodist or maybe a Christian Deist. I follow Jesus' teachings, but I believe the Bible has been twisted and manipulated. I believe in a human Jesus rather than a divine Jesus. I don't believe that God directly intervenes in day to day life.