56%
Confidence
Belief overview
Non-interventionist or discreet providence
God is seen as creator and sustainer, but not as agent of constant supernatural interventions.
2
Supportive
0
Contrary
0
Neutral
What it is: Deism usually conceives God as creator of the universe and foundation of its order, but not as agent of continuous supernatural interventions in history.
How the position understands it: Creation has its own regularity, and divine providence is understood more as the rational structure of the world than as a succession of extraordinary interventions.
Basis and context: The image was favored by modern mechanical analogies, natural philosophy, and reaction to miraculous theologies.
Debates and variations: Some deists admit broad moral providence; others approach a more distant model of the creator.
Documentary evidence
Supportive
Alexander Pope, Essay on Man
A philosophical poem on cosmic order and rational providence.
Reference: Alexander Pope, Essay on Man.
Content: The poem reflects on the order of the universe, the human place, and providence in a moral rationalist key.
Use in debate: It is useful for discreet providence and the rational order of the cosmos.
Matthew Tindal, Christianity as Old as the Creation
A central work of English deism on religion as old as creation.
Reference: Matthew Tindal, Christianity as Old as the Creation.
Content: Tindal argues that true religion is as old as creation and accessible to reason, not dependent on exclusive late revelations.
Use in debate: It is one of the most important classical formulations of deistic natural religion.