Definition of Deism

1. Noun. The form of theological rationalism that believes in God on the basis of reason without reference to revelation.

Exact synonyms: Free Thought
Generic synonyms: Rationalism
Derivative terms: Deist, Deistic

Definition of Deism

1. n. The doctrine or creed of a deist; the belief or system of those who acknowledge the existence of one God, but deny revelation.

Definition of Deism

1. Noun. 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. ¹

2. Noun. (alternative spelling of deism) ¹

3. Noun. A philosophical belief in the existence of a god knowable through human reason; especially, a belief in a creator god unaccompanied by any belief in supernatural phenomena or specific religious doctrines. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Deism

1. a religious philosophy [n -S]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Deism

deionized
deionizer
deionizers
deionizes
deionizing
deiparous
deipnophobia
deipnophobias
deipnosophist
deipnosophistry
deipnosophists
deiseal
deiseals
deisheal
deisheals
deism
deisms
deist
deistic
deistical
deistically
deists
deiterospinal tract
deiters nucleus
deities
deity
deitylike
deixes
deixis
deixises

Literary usage of Deism

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge: Embracing by Johann Jakob Herzog, Philip Schaff, Albert Hauck (1909)
"The term " Deism " properly denotes a belief in deity that is ... Deism, which originated in England, represented an effort to find a standard of religious ..."

2. The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General by Thomas Spencer Baynes (1888)
"French deism, the direct progeny of the English movement, was equally short-lived. Voltaire was to the end a deist of the school of Bolingbroke ; Rousseau ..."

3. The Reformation by George Park Fisher (1906)
"Modern unbelief first took the form of Deism, which spread in Europe until it ... This contributed to the rise of Free-thinking, or Deism, of which Lord ..."

4. American Philosophy: The Early Schools by Isaac Woodbridge Riley, Woodbridge Riley (1907)
"Deism was thus summed up by President John Adams. ... Said Elihu Palmer: Deism declares to intelligent man the existence of one Perfect God, ..."

5. Voltaire by John Morley (1872)
"Hence in proportion as this sort of deism stirs the soul of a man, the more closely are his inmost thoughts reserved for contemplation of the relations ..."

6. A Short History of Freethought, Ancient and Modern by John Mackinnon Robertson (1915)
"It is to Italy, where the political and social conditions thus far tended to frustrate the Inquisition, that we trace the rise alike of modern deism, ..."

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