by Lewis Loflin
Deism’s a tale of two paths—England’s rational reform and France’s radical torching of faith. Born in the 17th-century Age of Reason, it’s about nature and logic, not revelation’s guile. Here’s how it started, split, and shaped the world—America’s liberty versus France’s chaos.
English Deism kicked off with Lord Herbert of Cherbury’s De Veritate (1624)—five tenets of natural religion: one God, reverence, morality, repentance, and afterlife rewards (see English Deism). It built on Richard Hooker’s “sentence of Reason” (Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, 1590s) and Isaac Newton’s active deity—“an infinite spirit in which matter is moved” (Opticks, cited in English Rationalism). Kin to Socinians, Unitarians, and liberal Anglicans, it reformed faith, not razed it.
America drank this in—Jefferson’s “Nature’s God” (Declaration of Independence) and Franklin’s providential creed (1790) echo it (see Jefferson). It’s theism with a spine, not Voltaire’s “watchmaker” or Internet Deists’ godless rants.
French Deism took English seeds and grew a monster. Voltaire, early a Deist via Bolingbroke, turned functional atheist—Lisbon’s quake (1755) and war killed his optimism (see Voltaire). His “Prime Mover” swapped God for reason, targeting the Church but hitting all faith—anti-Semitic bile included. Rousseau’s Social Contract (1762) made rights state gifts, not divine, fueling secular radicalism (see Rousseau).
The French Revolution (1789-1799) was the payoff. The Cult of Reason (1792-94) trashed churches—Notre Dame of Strasbourg a “Temple”—with a “Goddess” farce (see Cult of Reason). Robespierre, a Deist, flipped it to the Cult of the Supreme Being (1794), chasing Rousseau’s virtue, but his Terror (1793-94) bled France dry (see French Deism). Catherine the Great, Deist-curious per Durant, watched from Russia—her “enlightenment” left serfs in chains.
English Deism built—America’s Revolution held Providence, dodging Catholic baggage. French Deism burned—Voltaire’s elitism and Rousseau’s utopias birthed socialism, fascism, chaos. Modern “Deism” often apes France—pantheism or humanism, not Herbert’s God (see Pantheism). Paine’s Age of Reason splits the difference—Creator yes, dogma no (see Paine). Explore more at Deism Mainpage.
Will Durant’s works; Wikipedia; The Cave and the Light by Arthur Herman; Cliffs Notes; primary texts.
Thanks to Grok (xAI) for drafting aid. My edits, my take, with nods to T.E. Wilder’s work.
Thanks to Grok (xAI) for drafting aid. My edits, my take, with nods to T.E. Wilder’s work.
