Catholic Church and deism
Deism |
---|
Description
A Deist is defined as "One who believes in the existence of a God or Supreme Being but denies
Deists generally reject the Trinity, the incarnation, the divine origin and authority of the Bible, miracles, and supernatural forces. Because of the individualistic standpoint which they adopt, it is difficult to class together the representative writers who contributed to the literature of English deism as forming any one definite school, or to group together the positive teachings contained in their writings as any one systematic expression of a concordant philosophy. There is no central authority that defines Deist beliefs and practices, thus Deists vary considerably in their beliefs. Many of them were materialistic in their doctrines; while the French thinkers who subsequently built upon the foundations laid by the English deists were almost exclusively so. Others rested content with a criticism of ecclesiastical authority in teaching the inspiration of the Sacred Scriptures, or the fact of an external revelation of supernatural truth given by God to man.[1] Deism inevitably undermined the personal religion of the Judeo-Christian tradition. "Since the beginning the Christian faith has been challenged by responses to the question of origins that differ from its own...Some admit that the world was made by God, but as by a watch-maker who, once he has made a watch, abandons it to itself (Deism)."[3]In 2013, Catholic author Al Kresta wrote that "Newton's mechanics turn into the clockwork universe of deism."[4]
History
C.J. Betts argues that the accounts of Deists at
According to Avery Dulles, "Deism drew its vitality from the oppressive policies of the religious establishments against which it was reacting."[6]
The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) recounts Catholic opposition in this period to Deism:
The deistical tendency passed through several more or less clearly defined phases. All the forces possible were mustered against its advance. Parliaments took cognizance of it. Some of the productions of the deists were publicly burnt. The bishops and clergy of the Establishment were strenuous in resisting it. For every pamphlet or book that a deist wrote, several "answers" were at once put before the public as antidotes. Bishops addressed pastoral letters to their dioceses warning the faithful of the danger. Woolston's "Moderator" provoked no less than five such pastorals from the Bishop of London. All that was ecclesiastically official and respectable was ranged in opposition to the movement, and the deists were held up to general detestation in the strongest terms.[7]
The last case of an execution by the inquisition was that of the schoolmaster
Catholic philosophers foreshadowing deism
In addition to the 13th century Averroist movement, the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica identified the following philosophers as men whose writings foreshadowed deism:
- Giovanni Boccaccio
- Petrarch
- Utopia
- Michel de Montaigne
- Pierre Charron
- Jean Bodin (nominal Catholic)
Part of a series on the |
Catholic Church |
---|
Overview |
Catholic Church portal |
Catholic influence on deism
Deism relies on the teleological argument for the existence of God on the basis of his orderly design.[9] This concept, which was present in both Classical philosophy and the Bible, was also taught within Catholicism, such as in the writings of Thomas Aquinas.
In his Meditations on First Philosophy
18th century Irish Protestant clergyman Philip Skelton argued that Deists and Catholics were allied in certain matters. In particular, they both attacked certain arrangements involving the government and the Church of England. Skelton noted that although deists sometimes railed against Protestant writers, they never argued against them; deist writers argued against Protestant rather than Catholic writers. Skelton was of the opinion that some deists would actually convert to Catholicism prior to death. Skelton felt that Catholics and deists had similar positions on the authority of Scripture, the indulgence of vice, and even purgatory. Skelton also thought that since Protestants and deists were equally heretics in the eyes of the Catholics anyway, they had no real reason to favor Protestants against the deists. Rather, Skelton thought Catholic apologists would prefer to work with a Deist than a Protestant, as it is easier to convert someone who is an unbeliever already. As part of his argument, Skelton cited the Jesuit educations of the prominent deists Matthew Tindal and John Toland and also noted that Pilloniere was once a member of the Jesuit order himself.[13]
Catholic viewpoint
In 1824 Pope Leo XII issued Ubi Primum discussing a number of concerns, from bishops residing in their dioceses to the popularity of indifferentism, which he also associated with deism. "The current indifferentism has developed to the point of arguing that everyone is on the right road. This includes not only all those sects which though outside the Catholic Church verbally accept revelation as a foundation, but those groups too which spurn the idea of divine revelation and profess a pure deism or even a pure naturalism... But a tolerance which extends to Deism and Naturalism, which even the ancient heretics rejected, can never be approved by anyone who uses his reason.[14]
Contrary to the image of a clockmaker, the Catholic Church teaches that creation is a continuing work of God, in which man shares.[15] "With creation, God does not abandon his creatures to themselves. He not only gives them being and existence, but also, and at every moment, upholds and sustains them in being..."[16]
See also
- Catholic Church and Pandeism
- Deism in England and France in the 18th century
References
- ^ a b c Aveling, Francis. "Deism." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 15 July 2019 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1941
- ^ "Catechism of the Catholic Church, §285". The Holy See. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
- ISBN 1592767257.
- ^ a b Betts, C. J. (1984). Early Deism in France: from the so-called "déístes" of Lyon (1564) to Voltaire's "Lettres philosophiques" (1734). The Hague; Boston: M. Nijhoff Publishers. p. 3.
- ^ Dulles, Avery. "The Deist Miimum", First Things, January 2005
- ^ "Deism", The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913).
- ^ "Daily TWiP - The Spanish Inquisition executes its last victim today in 1826". 26 July 2010. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
- ^ The doctrine of the knowledge in English tradition, Context and Reflection: Philosophy of the World and Human Being. 3-4 2013 by Serdechnaya Vera Vladimirovna
- ^ Rome and the Counter-Reformation in Scandinavia: The Age of Gustavus Adolphus and Queen Christina of Sweden, 1992, p. 510
- ^ Descartes, René. (2009). Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica 2009 Deluxe Edition. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica.
- ISBN 978-0-19-823994-9.
- ^ Deism revealed. Or, the attack on Christianity candidly reviewed in its real merits by Philip Skelton, Volume II (table of contents is found in Vol. I, 1751)
- ^ Pope Leo XII. Ubi Primum, §13, May 5, 1824
- ^ Grondelski, John. "Pentecost, Deism, and Secularism", Crisis, June 5, 2017
- ^ CCC §301
Attribution: contains material from the articles Pandeism.