deism

Belief in a supreme being. The term usually refers to a movement in the 17th and 18th centuries characterized by the belief in a rational ‘religion of nature’ as opposed to the orthodox beliefs of Christianity. Deists believed that God is the source of natural law but does not intervene directly in the affairs of the world, and that the only religious duty of humanity is to be virtuous.

The founder of English deism was Lord Herbert of Cherbury (1583–1648), and the chief exponents were John Toland (1670–1722), Anthony Collins (1676–1729), Matthew Tindal (1657–1733), Thomas Woolston (1670–1733), and Thomas Chubb (1679–1747). In France, the writer Voltaire was the most prominent advocate of deism. In the USA, many of the country's founders, including Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, were essentially deists. Later, deism came to mean a belief in a personal deity who is distinct from the world and not intimately interested in its concerns. See also theism.

Deists believed in the light of nature and reason as a sufficient guide in doctrine and practice. This had much in common with later German rationalism.