the christian deist café

God the "Almighty Watchmaker"?

2008-01-22T14:30:00.000-08:00

When I first heard the term Deism, I was taking a European History course that was taught in a dense-packed university lecture hall filled with about 800 students. Our class was learning about the Enlightenment thinkers of the eighteenth century, and how their desires for new knowledge and wisdom brought about profound changes to Western society. One of these changes was a dramatic shift in long-established ideas about the existence and nature of God.

Deists derive the existence of God from observation, experience and reason, not from the sacred texts, miracles and divine revelations that form the foundation of "revealed" religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam. As a young college student, I had trouble embracing the Deistic idea of the "Watchmaker" God who created the universe, set it in motion by way of natural laws, and then withdrew from His creation. According to this view, God does not actively intervene in individual human lives or the natural world. To borrow an idea from Voltaire's Candide, God created the garden and the things that inhabit it, and then he left humans responsible for cultivating it according to reason, morality and individual conscience.

Fifteen years later, this view of a mechanistic, impersonal and supremely rational deity still leaves me cold. I agree that one can observe the many designs found in the natural world and from them, infer the existence of a Designer commonly known as "God." I agree that one does not need any special text or divine revelation to know that God exists. It is also likely that God does not intervene in elements of the natural world, such as the ocean tides and weather. But I do not believe that a rational and loving God would create beings as diverse and complex as humans, only to leave them without any guidance beyond what reason allows them to comprehend for themselves!

Reason is rendered completely useless in anxiety-filled moments of mental paralysis. Whenever we can no longer think our way to a solution for a problem, let us simply be still, suspend our thought process for a few moments, and surrender to what Jesus called "the Kingdom of God within." Whenever we leave our difficulties to God instead of ourselves, we discover new possibilities and experience life feeling renewed, confident and hopeful once again.

Weekly Quote

2008-01-19T18:55:00.000-08:00

I TAKE STOCK AND LEAVE IT TO GOD

We live in a talkative world. People often feel that many words solve problems, also when they believe they converse with God. But God knows more about us than we do. He knows what we need before we ask. When we spell out our difficulties the only real purpose is to give ourselves some relief. He has no attachment whatsoever to our problems. He yearns only for our fulfilment as expressions of Him.

Faith is accepting, not asking, not dwelling on our difficulties. Faith is taking God for granted. Our Father's presence in us says "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. All is done. So be it." We must accept this, learn to let go and let God. Extended conversation with God usually means we are hanging on to negation.

So use your quiet time with your Father to good effect. If it helps, summarise your difficulties, but then leave them with God and spend time bathing in His sunshine of Love which dispels all negation. Then experience gratitude that it is so, and face life strengthened and refreshed.

The Path of Truth
Vol. 50, No. 4 page 234.

The One-Minute Giver

2008-01-13T18:38:00.000-08:00

At no cost to you and in less than one minute (on a broadband connection!), you can give:

Free food to hungry people
A free mammogram to a woman in need
Free child healthcare
Free books to children
Free food to rescued animals
Habitat protection for endangered rainforest lands

I've been doing it daily for the past several years. Start by going to The Hunger Site and clicking the Click Here to Give link. Sponsors pay for cups of food, and 100% of the money goes to charity. If you purchase an item from the online store, sponsors will pay for even more food.

Give even more by clicking the Breast Cancer, Child Health, Literacy, Rainforest and Animal Rescue tabs at the top of the page. At each of these sites, you can click once each day and your click will be counted toward donating to these worthy causes. As with The Hunger Site, the sponsors will make donations for any items purchased at the stores. You'll find some truly unique and beautiful products that make for great gifts!

I set The Hunger Site to my home page and each day, I click through the tabs right after my browser opens and the page downloads. In Internet Explorer, you can set The Hunger Site to your home page by clicking Tools>Internet Options and typing thehungersite.com in the Home page box. Click OK, and the next time your browser loads, The Hunger Site will download and you can start clicking away! It's a quick and no-cost way to give and over time, your clicks will really add up!

Weekly Quote

2008-01-10T09:15:00.000-08:00

If you pour yourself out for the hungry then shall your light rise in the darkness - (Is 58:10)

MY GIVING SHINES GOD'S LIGHT BEFORE MEN

There is but one Giver and one Receiver. You think you help the weak but you help yourself. You think another gives to you but it is your estate that you receive. In Oneness is giving and receiving, but no importing or exporting.

Giving freely is one of the most emphatic acts of trust that is possible. You do not give to receive, but to affirm the ever-full nature of the One in Whom you live and move and have your being.

You give and receive graciously for it is all God's free gift. "We grant that human life is mean" says Emerson "but how did we find out that it was mean? (It is) the fine innuendo by which the Soul makes its enormous claim." Every time we overcome meanness, we shine a Light before men to the glory of God.

The Path of Truth
Vol. 53, No. 6 page 368.

What do Christian Deists believe?

2008-01-07T15:42:00.000-08:00

From Christian Deism as a Personal Religion, written by John Lindell and published on his website The Human Jesus and Christian Deism:

1. God is our Creator.

2. God intends for us to love God and to love each other.

3. We should repent of "sin," which is any failure to love.

4. God forgives us if we repent of our sins and we forgive others who repent of their sins against us.

5. The "gospel" (good news) is that the kingdom of God is a reality on earth now for those who are committed to following God's laws of love.

6. The life we have received from God must be returned to God eventually. If we try to live now as God intends for us to live, we can trust God to take care of the future.

These are some of the basic beliefs in Christian deism, as I see them. Each Christian deist can apply these beliefs in the ways that seem reasonable to the individual. The practice of Christian deism is an individual matter and no one is limited to my understanding of what it means to be a Christian deist. Christian deists believe that God gave us the ability to reason (think logically), and no person is required to believe anything that seems unreasonable to that individual."

Weekly Quote

2008-01-03T20:51:00.000-08:00

I and the Father are One - (Jn 10:30)

UNITED WITH GOD I HAVE NO FEAR

The practice of Truth brings about a change of attitude in us. Before we saw ourselves as lone beings in a complex environment involving many separate people, things and forces. Now we see ourselves as bonded to the Author of all life, sharing His good vision of it, protected and guided by perfect Mind and Soul.

The attitude (or consciousness) of separation gives importance to every negation - discordant circumstances, conditions, behaviour. United in mind and heart to God, our perceptions penetrate to the good and stability that underlies these appearances, and enables us to accept this good alone into our inner and outer lives. We "turn a blind eye" to negation, whereafter its influence stops for us.

United with God, which is our true and natural state, all lingering fear departs us. No longer do we look for specific channels of good in our lives or specific outcomes. We live in faith that all is well. The Lord is our shepherd.

The Path of Truth
Vol. 52, No. 5 page 297.

Thomas Jefferson and Christian Deism

2008-01-02T20:28:00.000-08:00

"The authors of the gospels were unlettered and ignorant men and the teachings of Jesus have come to us mutilated, misstated and unintelligible." - Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) in "Toward the Mystery"

Thomas Jefferson, a Deist and one of history's most brilliant thinkers, wrestled all of his life to make sense out of the life of Jesus. Known today as The Jefferson Bible, his famous redaction of the four Gospels was a "cut and paste" way for him to reclaim the authentic Jesus from what he called "the corruptions of Christianity." It contains no references to the virgin birth, Christ's ascension and resurrection or any other supernatural mysteries. Instead, Jefferson was most impressed by the simple and eloquent teachings of Jesus, what he called "the most perfect and sublime that [have] ever been taught by man." In fact, his entire interest in the Bible was restricted to the life and teachings of Jesus.

As he selected only those passages that made sense to him, Jefferson formed his own personal religion--the beliefs by which he lived his life. For him, religion was always an intensely personal and private matter. Following the death of his good friend Benjamin Rush, Jefferson wrote to Rush's son Richard that "I have considered it [religion] as a matter between every man and his maker in which no other, and far less the public had a right to meddle." My favorite Jefferson quote is a famous passage from one of his letters: "It is in our lives and not in our words that our religion must be read."

Christian Deism is highly compatible with Jefferson's Bible and his beliefs that guided its composition:

1. The focus of Christian Deism is on the teachings of Jesus found in the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

2. Christian Deists believe that Jesus was a human like ourselves.

3. Christian Deists believe that reason is a gift given graciously to us from God, and that He wants us to make use of it in our daily lives.

4. Christian Deists believe that God wants us to study the Bible in light of reason.

5. Christian Deists reject any idea in the Bible that doesn't seem reasonable or make sense to them.

6. Christian Deists reject "the corruptions of Christianity" that have come from the apostle Paul, church councils and other ecclesiastical authorities.

7. Christian Deists believe that the worship of God is a private matter.

For more information about these and other ideas, please read John Lindell's essay on Christian Deism as a Personal Religion.

"The Most Wonderful Time of The Year!"

2007-12-30T20:38:00.000-08:00

I read an interesting article today about holiday and seasonal-related depression, and how the media aggravate the problem by setting unrealistic expectations of how people should live their lives during "the most wonderful time of the year," also known as the period from Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day. About 12 years ago, I suffered from severe holiday and seasonal depression and am now suffering alongside a relative who has fallen into deep despair over irreparable family problems. Reading this article, I began thinking about the religious community's response to what the medical profession has called "the common cold of mental illnesses."

The article mentions a pastor who counsels people with feelings of depression; one of his recommendations is to help others less fortunate. Many, if not most, depressed people would benefit from this advice, but I know from personal experience that my feelings of depression actually increased when I took the time to help others less fortunate. I saw how deprived they were and how much more I had in comparison. In my mind, I mercilessly berated myself for being so "selfish." But at that moment, how was I to effectively help others when I desperately needed help as well?

I have seen how depressed people become even more depressed when they allow others to think and make decisions for them. The worst of the bunch are the "holy men" who tell their depressed brethren that they lack faith, or that God is punishing them for their sins, or that they can heal themselves by prayer alone, or that Christians ought to be happy, and so forth. I wonder how many people suffering from depression have gotten much worse--or even taken their own lives--when they were unable to live up to the expectations of their religious creeds and their "divinely appointed" leaders.

Even severely depressed people can use their God-given reason to improve their health, happiness and well-being. With proper care and treatment, their minds, bodies and spirits will gradually heal until they leave the darkness behind and are restored to the light. As Jesus taught, the rest of us can be a comfort and a guide for them so that they may see the light of love and hope that comes from God.

Weekly Quote

2007-12-27T10:32:00.000-08:00

I will lead the blind in a way they know not - (Is 42:16)

I SURRENDER INTELLECT AND EXPERIENCE TO GOD WITHIN

Sometimes in life we run into utter dead-ends. Nothing in our experience gives us any hope that there may be a way out. Every prognosis spells failure. But our very "blindness" in times like this is clue to our salvation. All our own resources are expended and we have no option but to turn to our Father within.

Then, as it is revealed to the prophet, "I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground." In absolute trust, perhaps hesitatingly at first, we move forward and discover resolution where before was only hopelessness. No obstacle can affect Timelessness, for Timelessness fulfilled Its purpose long before.

Reason without belief is like a ship with wheel but no rudder. In All-knowledge are intellect and worldly experience as nothing. The Father knows what we need. Our part, in simplicity and joy, is to accept.

The Path of Truth
Vol. 54, No. 6 page 353.

Late Night Thoughts on Christian Deism

2007-12-26T14:17:00.000-08:00

My dog and I love taking brisk, late night walks together through our neighborhood. Under the clear desert skies of winter, sparking displays of "falling stars" greet us along the way. Our attention is captured as they enter the atmosphere and burn brilliantly into green, orange and amber hues. Looking up, I see the constellations set against a vast canopy of stars. I reflect how they are one among a multitude of designs found in nature, from the orbiting of an electron inside of an atom to that of the planets in our solar system.

By observing these designs and discovering the laws that govern them, I can infer the existence of a Designer who has been known to most people throughout history as "God." This belief about the existence of God is based on reason, observation and experience alone. It does not require any validation from divine revelation or a holy text. God was never under any obligation to create the universe; therefore, it is reasonable to believe that he did so out of his great love for us and for our good pleasure.

The name "Deism" comes from the Latin word "Deus" which means "God." If you believe in God and your belief arises from your God-given ability to reason, then consider yourself a Deist!

I call myself a "Christian Deist" because I believe in the authentic gospel ("good news") message of Jesus Christ. Jesus taught that love for God and love for others are the two natural laws inherent in human nature. Just as we can observe the natural laws governing the universe, we can also observe and personally experience how it is better and more natural for us to love others than hate them. Like Thomas Jefferson and his Deist contemporaries, I believe that myths, ignorance and superstition have obscured Jesus's life-affirming message for people seeking to know him, and that we must study the scriptures in light of our God-given reason. But I also firmly believe that the intellect has definite limits to what it can accomplish on its own. We should willingly surrender it to what Jesus called "the Kingdom of God within," whenever we feel powerless and have exhausted all of our own personal resources.

This Blog is my way of developing a personal religion and helping others do the same. For a brief overview of Christian Deism, take a look at this article by John Lindell. "Brother John" introduced me to Christian Deism about two years ago. I pray that this Blog reaches all who need his life-changing message of love, hope and forgiveness.