Deism FAQ: God and the Natural Universe

http://www.godvsthebible.com

Answering the questions of how one can believe in God yet also in a strictly natural universe.

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[lichtbroeder]

I'm interested in Deism, and have questions re: morality. If sacred texts and their "commandments" are not really from God, and if God doesn't intervene in human affairs, then where do moral principles come from, and what is their function? Are Deists moral to facilitate good social order and/or connect with Divine Order? Do Deists have shared moral principles or are they subjective? Without Divine revelation as their source, does morality, for Deists, have any spiritual significance at all?

[DeistPaladin]

@lichtbroeder This is a broad question that can't be answered in 500 characters.  The short answer is that morality is a function of how we treat our fellow sentient beings, likely the result of our evolution as community-based animals. The "social contract" offers a good yardstick to discuss morality. The existence of God is irrelevant to such discussions, as that which is wrong would continue to be wrong without God.

[Ohaiku91]

Two things. 1 -and this is completely irrelevant- but you kind of sound like/remind me of Sheldon from Big Bang Theory. 2 - I'm well on my way to self-identifying as Deist.

[DeistPaladin]

@Ohaiku91 My wife says the same thing. Lucky for me she likes nerds, 

[anaemiabag]

does deism have to be based off the christian bible?

[DeistPaladin]

@anaemiabag No, it's based only on the natural universe. Ex-Muslims, Ex-Hindus, Ex-whatever can be deists just as easily as Ex-Christians.

[Drgamedood]

Deism > Christianity

[crps3ESA]

I love being a Deist. I never agreed with Christianity, never.

[MrPeterfc4]

@lichtbroeder I find that love provides a perfect demonstration of how to interact morally in this life. Anyone who has children, or good friends, or a mate, etc..... whom they love, knows instinctively how love works. Love is really what makes up morals in general. In everything we should do, we should treat others with love. Love is instinct and found throughout history in creation and in creation's relationships. Just my two cents.

[lichtbroeder]

@Sublime570 Some sense God's presence in the natural world innately, but also by discerning that presence, with effort involved. We are no more born "knowing" right from wrong than are we born "knowing" that planets orbit stars. We discern these things and teach others. If a single cell under a microscope can exemplify Divine Order, then so can social order, based on ethics/morality, however defined. We aren't "good", "just because", but because being "good" connects us to God.

[lichtbroeder]

@Sublime570 None of us is born "knowing" that we shouldn't kill, steal, etc. We are taught this, though this "teaching" need not come via religion. I sense that some didn't understand my initial question. (jimmyt3411 did) I asked if Deists saw morality and ethics as being contrived social expedients only, or as something more: as mirrors of Divine order which, when embraced, connect us to it. I didn't say that morality and ethics came FROM God via "revealed truth" or religion.

[TexasCatMom6760]

Do you still have your godvsthebible website? I can't seem to access it. Please advise if it has changed or what might be the problem. Thanks!

[Sublime570]

@lichtbroeder We're born knowing naturally that we shouldn't kill our mother and father, morality comes naturally not through religion.

[jimmyt3411]

@lichtbroeder First of all, one does not need divine revelation to acquire a set of moral principles. Reason alone can determine an the morality of an act. God is the final cause for everything, including morality, the holy scriptures...and so on, therefore he must have created morality. I'm sure their are those who would claim that morality that morality is 'subjective', but as a Deist, I do believe in an objective moral standard and spirituality.

[jimmyt3411]

@DeistPaladin Nope, the "social contract" or legality has nothing to do with morality. Morality is what's right and wrong, and moral theories arise in an attempt to provide reasons for what makes an action right or wrong. Morality exists independently of human beliefs because their is "reason" to distinguish right from wrong.

[lichtbroeder]

@DeistPaladin Thank you, that makes sense. I wasn't tying God to ethics/morality exclusively, (I know ethical atheists) but had a sense that these might - for Deists - touch on "order" tied to the "order" of the clockwork-like mechanism set into motion by the Great Architect. God may have no interaction with us or with creation, but we - like God - are architects and creators in our own right. Ethics/morality facilitate this. Thanks.