Deism- The Distant God
It all depends on the glasses. Every lens gives a different view of the world, different colors, and different textures. Everything encountered can either be displayed perfectly or distorted. Sometimes things can seem foggy or blurry and other times crystal clear. Worldview can be compared to a pair of glasses. It defines how people see religion, culture, tradition, and life. It is the Father of beliefs, and starter of wars. It is our conscious and our decision maker. A worldview, whether admitted or not, effects and shapes each and every person. James W. Sire gives a precise definition in his book The Universe Next Door, saying, “A world view is a set of presuppositions (or assumptions) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously) about the basic makeup of our world” (pg.17). To qualify a worldview a livable belief, it must first answer seven basic questions. (1) What is the ultimate reality? (2) What is the nature of external Reality? (3) What is a human being? (4) What happens to a person at death? (5) Why is it possible to know anything at all? (6) How do we know what is right and wrong (morality)? (7) What is the meaning of human history? (8) What are the core commitments that are consistent with this worldview? All major worldviews attempt to provide an answer to these questions of human existence and the reason we are here. Christians need to understand how to apply the questions to not only our own worldview, but also the worldview of others. Only when one begins to understand the basis of another worldview can Christians begin to minister with understanding to the people of that belief. So now let us put on our lenses and explore a worldview that has existed through the pages of history. Let ...
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...istianity have core commitments in living out their faith. Because deism does not have set beliefs, commitments vary from deist to deist. Every person is free to use their human reason to draw their own conclusions of life. These goals and commitments will reflect the personal aspects of each person. Warm deists goals may reflect a belief in a creator or God, and what would most make him pleased with him. Cold deists, however, will use only reason to reach their goals. Christianity has one core motive. According the Westminster Shorter Catechism we are to “glorify God and enjoy him forever.” The Christian’s life does not reflect their goals; rather it reflects God and his holy character.
Now that we have been given a new perspective in the worldview of Deism, we can now accurately begin to reach out and witness to this worldview that believes in a faraway God.
The biblical worldview is essentially the integration of fundamental biblical teachings to become a meaningful and unified response to the routine opportunities and challenges of modern life. An individual wholly inscribed into a biblical worldview projects a belief system that the core purpose of existence is to love and serve the Lord God alone. Essentially, a Christian worldview is formed in reference of the infallible living Word of God (Tackett, 2014). After a believer fully believes the living Word of God then allows it to form the basis of everything in their life. That implies, for instance, that when a believer chooses to pursue Romans 13 to respect people in authority then must take priority in voting and electing new leaders into power. A bible believing person should lead a life that portrays the biblical teachings and truths. As practical Christians our gut reaction should be limited to the biblical established truths (Wayne, 2014).
Deism - belief in God but did not interfere in the world positively or negatively
A Christian worldview leads us to believe in moral absolutes, miracles, human dignity, and the possibility of redemption. True Christianity is more than a set of ideas used at church. Christianity, as taught in the Bible, is itself a worldview. The Bible never dis...
The foundation of a Christian worldview is the belief in a personal God, creator and ruler of the universe. The Christian worldview views the world through God’s word, providing the framework for humanity to live by giving meaning and purpose to life. It defines who Jesus is, human nature, and how salvation is achieved. In essence it is the basis of which Christians behave, interact, interpret life and comprehend reality. A Christian worldview imparts confidence, answers to life’s problems, and hope for the future. In this paper I will discuss the essentials of a Christian worldview and an analysis of the influences, benefits, and difficulties sustaining the Christian faith.
Thomas Paine argued that there is happiness in Deism, when one rightly understood it concept. What makes Deism stood out from the rest of world religion, Is that Deist doesn’t need tricks to show miracles to confirm faith. He claimed that Deism brings happiness to it followers; unlike other religious believe systems where they restrain from reasoning and if the reasoning makes sense they will dispute against it. A man or a woman who able to think at all must restrains his/her own reason in order to force themselves into believe the teaching of that religion without questioning. Deist believes that the structure of the universe and everything we witness in the system of the creation of the world are far more convincing than any text or scriptures. Deists believe that by exercise their reason is what enabled them to contemplate God and His work. (Paine, 1794) Thomas Paine also mention that “man has wandered from the straight path of their duty and pursued of happiness, and become by turns the victim of doubt and the deceive of delusion from what people so called religion.” In the other extreme, the Evangelical Revival Methodist faithfully emphasizing the importance of the words of God and the commitment of the Holy Spirit in the beatification of the life of Christian followers. Deists were often perceives as pure rationalist that advocated nothing but reasoning, whereas Methodists were commonly identified as religious fanatic. (Heidinger, 1986) These two movements together often led to a great disagreement in the early 18th century. This paper will argues that, even though the Evangelical Methodist and Deist may appear as completely opposite on the outside but their core concept appeared to be very similar.
The basic principles of Deism state that there is a divine Creator, whom one might call God, who created the universe. However, it is believed that after creating the universe, this divine being stopped interfering with earthly affairs and left the universe to work according to the laws of nature. According to Deists, knowledge of this Creator and the laws of nature can be acquired through human reason. Additionally, Deists rejected miracles and believed that Jesus was merely a great preacher rather than the son of God, as neither of these ideas followed the logic of reason. This emphasis on reason and natural law appears as the direct influence of the Enlightenment on Deism, connecting the two systems of thought.
A worldview can be defined as a set of beliefs by which you live your life. This means that everything you say and do is defined by your worldview or set of beliefs. A biblical worldview is a God centered belief system, one where everything that you do is filtered through your belief in God and the Bible. MacCullough (2012) says, “These beliefs are the answers we hold to the basic questions
What is a worldview? A worldview is an idea or thought that manifest in our brain but is originated from how we perceive and feel towards events that happen during our life. The opinions we express outwardly in action disseminates to others with whom we surround ourselves with, and vise versa. Collectively we take in worldviews and judge them to our own view, and settle on a conscious agreement to what we hold to be truth.
A Scientific Understanding of God Two eighteenth century movements, the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening, changed American colonists’ views on reason and wisdom. The Enlightenment, led by philosophers such as John Locke, emphasized abstract thought to acquire knowledge. The European and American thinkers’ research led to a greater understanding of scientific phenomena and the questioning of the government’s rule. Similar to the Enlightenment, the Great Awakening changed colonists’ mode of thought through the concentration of emotion rather than wisdom. Reverend Jonathan Edwards, a Great Awakening revivalist, emphasized seeking salvation by recognizing one’s own moral corruption and surrendering to God’s will. Although the Great Awakening challenged religious, social and political orthodoxy, the Enlightenment had a greater impact on colonial America and vastly influenced future decisions. The Great Awakening reached a large quantity of people because of the traveling orators that preached the evangelical word. Although Enlightenment learning was limited to the wealthy, educated colonists, the movement’s influence was still stronger because the well-to-do ruled the land. Enlightenment philosophers began questioning corrupt governments and the combination of church and state. John Locke claimed that because the people created a government, then civilians could change the run of the government. This belief, perhaps, was the most influential to colonial society. Educated and powerful political leaders began questioning their government under British rule, therefore, igniting dreams of independence. The Enlightenment theory added to the oppression of British rule led to a revolution. Although not as significant as the Enlightenment, the Great Awakening still had a deep impact on colonial society. Primarily, the conflict that arose between the religious revivalists and ultimately ended in a split in the evangelical group changed the face of religion in the British colonies. The New Light revivalists spawned such denominations as Baptist and Methodist, which differed in the old lights beliefs in doctrine and matters of faith. These new sects resulted in a stronger tolerance toward religious diversity. Also, because revivalists preached mainly to backcountry people who had no religious affiliation, the emphasis on emotion rather than wisdom gave less-educated people a feeling of self-worth. These new freethinking converts gained the strength to begin questioning social and political order. The movements of the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening mainly produced a new mode of thought for American colonists.
Deus is the Latin word which means god, most of our translations are decedents from the Latin language. The theory of Deism is the belief in a single creator god, yet they reject revealed religion. Instead, they believe that the knowledge of this god comes from rationality and experience with the created world. Another common belief among Deist, is the rejection of the idea of a personal god. Deist affirms the existence of God but believes that after creation, God lacks the ability to interfere with his creation (such as granting miracles or creating prophets), and he does not desire worship. The deistic approach is not as pessimistic as the protest atheists view, though it shows another view that opposes theism and that contradicts a full atheistic approach such as protest atheism.
The common goal of Christianity is to spread faith and good morals, and we give inspiration. We try to be a good influence in the world and try to make an impact on people lives. Our ambition is to be like God. Everyone is not perfect, so we also try to improve ourselves as well as others. Another goal is to be
My own definition of worldview is set of beliefs about the most important issues in life and my reaction to it. While in agreement with Jeff Baldwin’s eyeglass concept, I choose to compare my Christian worldview to an internal navigational system. When I am lost and need to be found, Christ is omnipresent. He knows my location and guides me into another direction. “It’s a roadmap, a guide for getting around in life, for interpreting reality, and for making choices” (The Importance of Worldview, 2011, p.11). Hopefully my final destination will be in the “city of gold, as clear as glass” (NLT, Revelation, 21:18).
... the eyes of a blind man, but also to appreciate the world through the eyes of a man of God.
Gnosticism, which was viewed as a threat to early Christian beliefs can be defined as the “thought and practice especially of various cults of late pre Christian and early Christian centuries distinguished by the conviction that matter is evil and that emancipation comes through gnosis (King, p.5).” Besides the dictionary’s condensed definition summarizing Gnosticism, “Gnosticism” is a much more complex belief composed of numerous myths defining humans and God and viewed as an ancient Christian heresy. Gnosticism is rather a term invented in the early modern period to aid in defining the boundaries of normative Christianity. Yet, it has been mistakenly come to be thought of as a distinctive Christian heresy or seen as a religion in its own right (King, p.1)
The World View is a global concept. It defines our standard of how things are or should be in the world we live in. It makes up our rules of how we and others should act and our values and morals to behave in the world. For most of the people, the world view is a vague set of rules that we have unconsciously adopted from the society. Generally our family, religious groups and society seldom allow us for making creating our own. Through our intellect, we can create aspects of our world view. In short the World View is a filter through which we make judgments of others and ourselves.