WHY BELIEVE IN THE GOD OF DEISM

 

 

A Deist had written:

 

·       I believe God exists, but I don't believe in organized religion, I am pretty confident that reality had a creator, that it is imbued with God's intelligence and mind or non-localized consciousness, that God is omnipresent as being intricately a part everything in the universe and being always present throughout existence, I believe God is omnipotent being the governing and monitoring power behind the laws of logics and nature, the governing power that controls all the laws and forces of physics, and the intelligence that directed the evolutionary development of existence, that God is omniscient by having the knowledge of all existence from the lowest particle of matter to a supercluster of galaxies, and finally I believe God is morally neutral as logic would dictate it rather than omnibenevolent. God doesn't supervene or interfere with the laws and forces of physics or nature. God doesn't answer prayers or perform miracles.

 

According to this, the god of Deism is quite limited, even robotic, without feelings or moral concerns, even nerdish. Should we reject such a god? I think that the are several reasons to do so:

Such a god is less than its creation. This suggests that it is not great enough to create its creation in its entirety. Consequently:

 

·       We love, but it (the deistic god) is loveless.

·       We find purpose in life, but it is purposeless.

·       We enjoy beauty, food, friendship, and doing the right thing, but it does not.

·       We grieve, experience, shame, guilt, compassion, anger, and regret, but it does not.

·       We need to feel safe and protected, but it will not provide these things.

·       We have needs, but it is not concerned and will do nothing for us.

·       We care, but it has no concerns—no compassion or righteousness.

·       We have strong moral impulses that guide our lives, but it is nothing but intelligence but without any reasons or character to guide its intelligence.

 

This deist god is unable to account for our existence. It doesn’t care about us. Yet this creation does seem to care:

 

·       When we thirst, we have water.

·       When we hunger, we have food.

·       When we are lonely, we have family and friends.

·       When we hurt or have needs, the creation provides solutions.

·       When we tire, there is sleep.

·       When we need guidance and meaning, our conscience is wired with moral truths.

 

Where could these things possibly come from apart from the loving God who cares about us! If nothing else, this deist god sustains creation in a meaninglessly, carelessly, and lovelessly in a world where anything is allowed. Is it enough for us? Is it any more like us than a mega-computer? Is such a god worthy of our belief, let alone our worship?