RD is for disillusioned Christians – but it is not Christian Deism

In a previous blog article, we explained the similarities and (mostly) differences between Religious Deism (RD) and the purposefully theologically vague Universalist Unitarian Church (UUC).  With the new primary focus of RD efforts being on disillusioned Christians or former Christians, we thought it would be appropriate and important to talk about the similarities and differences as well between RD and what some people refer to as Christian Deism. 

While Christian Deism (CD) is not an oxymoron as one might think at first glance, it is a term that today is pretty much anachronistic and without any identified followers.  Christian Deism, somewhat like the UUC, is a group or theological designation that includes people with very broad and different definitions about their acceptable belief about Jesus, his teachings and his divinity.   A Christian Deist can be someone who believes Jesus (a) is/was the Son of God but not God Himself (somewhat like the Eastern Orthodox Church), (b) was a prophet whose teachings were divinely inspired, or (c) was not divine but his teachings and those of the Bible contain at least some revealed truths about God. 

While Religious Deism disagrees with all three of the above points, it does coincide with some aspects of the most liberal parts of Christian Deism, like their rejection of the characterization of God in the Old Testament, the use/cause & effect relationship of petitionary prayer, the existence of heaven but not hell, and their dedication to find/create, at least partially, a rational supernaturalist theology.  However, Religious Deism does not believe that Jesus, or better yet the people who created the image and edited the words of Jesus, spoke for God or had a monopoly on the truth about God.  And, in fact, Religious Deism finds several inadequacies in the Bible and believes that Christianity has taken some unacceptable liberties in interpreting many parts of the New Testament. 

RD does not believe that Jesus is divine because our reason-based theology will not allow us to accept the divinity of those sources that establish Jesus’ supposed divinity, specifically the Bible and its liberal and creative editing over the years.   Likewise, the RD belief in God’s purposeful non-intervention on earth goes completely against a belief in the existence of a or the “Holy Spirit” or anything else that could or could have served to divinely inspire early, late or current Christian Church leaders.   

As a result, RD believes that it offers something very different from Christian Deism, and the UUC, and that it is the only true theology that authentically unites the terms “Religious” (with a creed and a belief in the afterlife and a reckoning) and “Deism” (belief in God based on reason). 

For more information on RD theology and the differences between other religions and theologies, take a look at our website, review our other blog articles on the topic, and join us on our Facebook page:  @religiousdeism.