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deism - 5 dictionary results

de⋅ism

  [dee-iz-uhm]
Use deism in a Sentence
–noun
1. belief in the existence of a God on the evidence of reason and nature only, with rejection of supernatural revelation (distinguished from theism ).
2. belief in a God who created the world but has since remained indifferent to it.
Origin:
1675–85; < F déisme < L de(us) god + F -isme -ism
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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de·ism   (dē'ĭz'əm, dā'-)   
n.  The belief, based solely on reason, in a God who created the universe and then abandoned it, assuming no control over life, exerting no influence on natural phenomena, and giving no supernatural revelation.

[French déisme, from Latin deus, god; see dyeu- in Indo-European roots.]
de'ist n., de·is'tic adj., de·is'ti·cal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Deism

De"ism\ (d[=e]"[i^]z'm), n. [L. deus god: cf. F. d['e]isme. See Deity.] The doctrine or creed of a deist; the belief or system of those who acknowledge the existence of one God, but deny revelation.

Note: Deism is the belief in natural religion only, or those truths, in doctrine and practice, which man is to discover by the light of reason, independent of any revelation from God. Hence, deism implies infidelity, or a disbelief in the divine origin of the Scriptures.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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deism [(dee-iz-uhm)]

The belief that God has created the universe but remains apart from it and permits his creation to administer itself through natural laws. Deism thus rejects the supernatural aspects of religion, such as belief in revelation in the Bible, and stresses the importance of ethical conduct. In the eighteenth century, numerous important thinkers held deist beliefs. (See clockwork universe.)

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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deism 
1682 (deist is from 1621), from Fr. déisme, from L. deus "god." Until c.1700, opposed to atheism, in a sense where we would now use theism.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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