Deism is a natural religion in that it draws its principles and ideas from experience of nature and human reasoning. Emerging during the Enlightenment in the eighteenth century from a Christian milieu, Deism subsequently declined, giving way to atheism on one side and Unitarianism, which incorporated many of its notions, on the other.
However, modern Deism does not favour any particular culture: indeed it is open for people from all cultures to contribute to its development. All religions, whatever their claims to divine revelation, are man-made. They are shaped by and reflect the material and spiritual needs of the cultures that spawn them.
Problematically, too many religions promote themselves as the exclusive conduit whereby God and humans interact. Therefore, each regards all other religions as false with often disastrous consequences such as persecution and violence, in stark contradiction of the creeds supposedly being propagated.
Deism has no such difficulties because it makes no claims for divine revelation, rather it denies their validity. God, for Deists, is truly ineffable, so while they are able to speak about the divine they do not pretend to speak with or for the divine.
Everyone is born into a religious culture, even atheists: a militant British born* non-believer is as much a product of Christendom as the most faithful Trinitarian. That different conclusions have been drawn does not invalidate the fact that the society of which they are a part was fashioned by Christianity.
Had the same two people been born in Saudi Arabia, then one would be a devout Muslim, the other a culturally Muslim atheist. Repeat for any significant historical religion. Atheists stop believing in God, or are brought up by their families not to, but they still observe the religiously generated mores of their societies.
So what can a “Christian” Deist make of the Jesus tradition. The narrative is broadly known and has been interpreted and reinterpreted over the two thousand years of its telling. It has been the spiritual support of fascist regimes and the inspiration of liberation theology; and that’s just the Roman Catholic branch.
It seems Jesus was part of a radical movement led initially by John the Baptist aimed at establishing the Kingdom of God on earth exclusively for the Jews. Jesus is quoted as instructing disciples, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles…go rather to the house of Israel.” (Matthew 10:5-7)
However, in coming into contact with Gentiles of various stripes he discovered they had the same hopes and ambitions as Jews. Subsequently, he revised his teaching to include all who agreed to love God and their neighbour.
He also rejected violence as a way of securing God’s Kingdom in favour of repentance and forgiveness. Jesus was bent on wholesale reform of Judaism and that brought him into direct conflict with the authorities.
Over the next four centuries much of what Jesus strove for was subverted by the religion developed in his name. He became deified and, by an arithmetical sleight of hand, one facet of the Trinity making up one God.
Actually, much of the narrative predates Jesus: the miraculous birth, the raising the dead, the death and resurrection, the sharing of bread and wine (or beer in ancient Egypt). These and other elements can be found in pre-existing religious traditions throughout the world.
It appears the Gospel authors, somewhat after the event, made use of such narrative memes to construct the story of Jesus. It was this that enabled Christianity to arise as it was based on established religious foundations.
So, what of Jesus? He can be interpreted as a “Deist” as he taught that which he discovered through his own reason and experience. And this is what he claimed others should do. “Everyone will be taught by God..” (John 6:45) & “Whoever is willing to do what God wants will know whether what I teach comes from God or whether I speak on my own authority.” (John 7:17)
The implication is clear, Jesus was to be judged through people’s own experience and reasoning, not against some spurious claim to mysterious authority as most religions stipulate: reason, not faith.
In the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas there is the following:
“Jesus said, ‘If your leaders say to you, ‘Look, the kingdom is in heaven,’ then the birds of heaven will precede you. If they say to you, ‘It is in the sea,’ then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside you and it is outside you.
“When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you dwell in poverty, and you are poverty.” (Logia 3, The Gospel of Thomas. Translated by Marvin Meyer, Harper, 1992)
There are those who style themselves Christian Deists who draw deeply from this tradition. Even those whose Christianity remains largely cultural can find inspiration in knowing they aren’t rejecting a tradition wholesale, but moving it forward and allowing that tradition to be a creative element of their Deism.
However, there is no special linkage between Deism and Christianity or any other religion. Modern Deism draws on the one common element of all religions, that there is a God. What that means is an open question to which any answers or speculations cannot run counter to scientific thinking
Deism is inspired by the natural, not the supernatural.
* This refers to those who come from a culturally Christian background. It is appreciated their are British citizens from a wide variety of religious backgrounds.
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