Abstract:

This study addresses the basic claims of theism by moving from the first deists, also called the British deists. Although there are serious difficulties in finding a absolute judgment of theism, which has a long historical history, it is possible to discuss the fundamental beliefs of theism. But, without taking into account the different concepts of theism in the historical process, approaching the issue with a superficial and general perspective will lead to both missing and wrong assessments. In this study, the theism issue that the religious philosophy is closely concerned is discussed on the basis of the approaches of the first theists with similar or different concepts to fundamental beliefs such as God, morality, revelation and immortality. Theism, which originally emerged as a serious criticism of institutional Christianity, is in fact a belief that places the intellectual or natural religion instead of the revelation. But the question of which deism is to be asked to understand the deism correctly. Because in theism, the very close thoughts on God and the issues of morality are found, it is possible to find very different beliefs on immortality and especially the revelation.

Abstract:

This study addresses the main claims of deism based on the first deists, also named as English deists. Though there are some serious challenges about making an absolute judgement on deism, which has a long historical background, it is still possible to discuss the main beliefs of deism. However, approaching the subject with a shallow and overall perspective without considering various perceptions of deism during the historical process would cause both imperfect and inaccurate assessments. In our study, matter of deism which is a particular concern to the philosophy of religion is discussed based on the main approaches of the first deists who have the same or different perceptions on the main beliefs such as God, morality, divine inspiration and immortality. Originally emerging as a serious criticism against the corporate Christianity, deism is actually a belief that substitutes the divine inspiration with reason and natural religion. However, to understand deism thoroughly, the question of “which deism” must be asked. Because in deism, while very close ideas on the God and morality can be found, it is also possible to find very different ideas on the matters of immortality and especially divine inspiration.

Keywords: