Encyclopedia of Science and Religion | Deism

Deism is the belief in a creator God who does not have any subsequent influence upon the world. Deism became influential in the West beginning in the seventeenth century, when it was seen that modern physics is compatible with an initial act of supernatural creation but appears to leave no room for subsequent interventions by God into the natural order. Although deism stands in marked contrast to traditional Jewish, Christian, and Muslim accounts of God's providential activity in the world, it is often advanced as an answer to the problem of evil: If God is unable to act in the world, God cannot be responsible for the suffering that arises within it.

See also CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE; EVIL AND SUFFERING; GOD; MONOTHEISM; NATURAL THEOLOGY; PANENTHEISM; PANTHEISM; THEISM

PHILIP CLAYTON