I’m going to use the most current definition of what a deist is in order to answer the question of whether deism is the same as Christianity.
Deism is the “belief in the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who does not intervene in the universe. The term is used chiefly of an intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries that accepted the existence of a creator on the basis of reason but rejected belief in a supernatural deity who interacts with humankind.”
Even though I attended church with my family, I spent over a decade living as a deist. I believed in God and that He created everything but didn’t believe that Christ was God in the flesh or even remotely divine, I didn’t believe that God interacted with people, even listened to our prayers, nor believed in miracles.
Think of it like a clock or watch, where “God (i.e. watchmaker) created the universe (i.e. watch) and the laws of nature, set it all in motion, and then let’s the universe run its course on a path that is governed by those laws of nature” [Quora].
So, to answer the question, no. Christianity and Deism are not the same and here’s why (read more here, excluding Thomas Jefferson and C.S. Lewis since Jefferson was a Christian and Lewis was an atheist prior to converting to Christianity):
- God is actively involved in our lives (e.g. Genesis 6:13 and 17:1-27).
- Christ is the source of salvation, not just morality (e.g. Ephesians 2:8-9 and John 14:6).
- The Bible is God’s inspired and infallible Word (e.g. 2 Timothy 3:16, John 5:39, Proverbs 2, and Matthew 4:1-11).
- Satan and hell are real (e.g. Matthew 4, 5:22 and 18:9, 1 Chronicles 21:1, and Mark 9:43).
- God answers prayer according to His will (e.g. 2 Samuel 12:20, Psalm 37:4 and Matthew 6:10).
Since he removed the pages from the Bible where Christ performed miracles, was Thomas Jefferson a deist? What about the other Founding Fathers? Many of the founders were actually Christians [Wallbuilders], including Jefferson! Contrary to popular belief, Jefferson required the Bible to be taught in school and the Jefferson Bible was distributed to politicians due to the belief that the teachings of Jesus would discourage corruption [Wallbuilders]. The reason that Jefferson cut out sections of the Bible was in order to send those sections to the Native Americans and share the words of Jesus with them [Daily Wire]. Having had gone to a private Christian college, I was taught that Thomas Jefferson was a deist which wasn’t true as it turns out.
I hope you learned something from this post. Feel free to leave any questions or comments down below.
Crazy Christian 