原版英文:"The effects we acknowledge naturally, do include a power of their producing, before they were produced; and that power presupposeth something existent that hath such power; and the thing so existing with power to produce, if it were not eternal, must needs have been produced by somewhat before it, and that again by something else before that, till we come to an eternal, that is to say, the first power of all powers and first cause of all causes; and this is it which all men conceive by the name of God, implying eternity, incomprehensibility, and omnipotence."
根據古典理神論,人類擁有理性-即係有意識噉靠觀察自己身邊嘅嘢嚟到認識宇宙同埋做判斷嘅能力。因為理神論者相信自然主義,認為宇宙萬物都可以齋靠自然定律解釋,所以人類淨係靠用理性了解自然定律就可以認識造物主,唔使乜嘢教會或者宗教經典。舉個例子說明,早期嘅英格蘭理神論作家瑪竇·廷達爾(英文:Matthew Tindal)喺佢嗰本著作《Christianity as Old as the Creation》入面就噉樣講[44]:
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原版英文:"By natural religion, I understand the belief of the existence of a God, and the sense and practice of those duties which result from the knowledge we, by our reason, have of him and his perfections; and of ourselves, and our own imperfections, and of the relationship we stand in to him, and to our fellow-creatures; so that the religion of nature takes in everything that is founded on the reason and nature of things." 粵文翻譯:我所講嘅「自然宗教」(指理神論)係指我明白到上帝嘅存在,同指對(自己有嘅)義務嘅認識同實行,而呢啲義務嘅認識同實行係嚟自我哋對上帝同佢嘅完美嘅認知、嚟自對自己嘅認知、嚟自對我哋自己嘅唔完美嘅認知、嚟自我哋對自己同上帝之間嘅關係嘅認知、同埋對自己以外嘅生靈嘅認知嘅。所以自然嘅宗教包羅嗮所有建基於理性同萬物本質嘅嘢。
原版英文:"As priestcraft was always the enemy of knowledge, because priestcraft supports itself by keeping people in delusion and ignorance, it was consistent with its policy to make the acquisition of knowledge a real sin."
粵文翻譯:神術不嬲都係知識嘅敵人,因為神術維持自己(存在)嘅方法就係令到啲人繼續妄想同無知,配合佢將獲得知識(學習同發問)視為一種罪嘅政策。
當時歐洲人嘅航海活動有幫到手引起歐洲喺思想上嘅改革。喺 16 至 17 世紀,歐洲人開始接觸到美洲、亞洲同太平洋等地嘅文化,發現咗前人未知嘅文化多樣性,跟住就開始質疑:咁多唔同嘅人種同語言點可能係好似舊約聖經所講,由兩個人-原祖父母-嗰度嚟嘅。而且呢啲外來思想開始影響返歐洲人轉頭,好似係孔子嘅思想由耶穌會(Jesuit)傳教士譯做歐洲語言[64],對後嚟嘅理神論思想有一定嘅影響,亦都令到某啲啟蒙時期思想家有興趣嘗試將孔子嘅諗法加落去基督教道德系統入面[65][66]。呢啲影響令到歐洲人開始咗質疑教會傳統教嘅嗰套「教會同聖經係唯一真理」,當中英格蘭嘅宗教思想家愛德華·赫伯特(Edward Herbert)就喺佢 1645 年出嗰本書《De Religione Laici》入面噉樣評論宗教多樣性呢一個現象[67]:
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原版英文:"Many faiths or religions, clearly, exist or once existed in various countries and ages, and certainly there is not one of them that the lawgivers have not pronounced to be as it were divinely ordained, so that the Wayfarer finds one in Europe, another in Africa, and in Asia, still another in the very Indies."
粵文翻譯:好明顯,喺多個國家同時代都有過好多唔同嘅信仰同宗教,而好肯定嘅係,佢哋(呢啲信仰同宗教)當中冇一個啲教士唔係講到啲教條好似係由某啲形式嘅神性講落嘅噉,正如旅行者喺歐洲搵到一個(即係指基督教)、喺非洲又搵到個、喺亞洲又搵到個、而喺美洲土著當中又搵到個。
17 世紀嘅歐洲喺科學上嘅重大躍進-即係所謂嘅科學革命(The Scientific Revolution)[71]-喺思想上對西人造成咗好大嘅震盪。哥白尼、開普勒、同伽利略等科學家嘅研究令到歐洲人放棄舊陣時「地球係宇宙中心」嘅諗法,並且開始挑戰聖經嘅權威,當中伽利略就為咗堅持自己對日心說嘅諗法而俾教廷指控話佢係異端分子。呢一連串嘅事開始令到好多歐洲人相信,聖經頂櫳都衹不過係喺信仰同道德上嘅權威,喺科學知識上冇資格話事。例如伽利略就曾經講過話認為「上帝嘅本質係要透過佢嘅工作(指應該用科學了解嘅自然宇宙)嚟認識嘅,而上帝嘅教導係要透過佢所啟示嘅話語(指聖經)嚟認識嘅」("God is known by nature in his works, and by doctrine in his revealed word.")[72]。總體嚟講,伽利略等嘅科學家雖然未有諗到理神論,但係佢哋嘅影響令到好多歐洲人踏出咗邁向理神論嘅第一步-以科學同理性,而唔係宗教經典,嚟認識上帝[73][74]。
法國哲學家伏爾泰嘅畫像
由湯瑪斯傑佛遜親手寫嗰本《The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth》嘅封面,1820 年
喺英國盛放
德裔美國史學家伯多祿·基(Peter Gay)認為,古典理神論係喺 1690 年代尾正式出現喺歷史舞台上嘅。嗰陣,愛爾蘭思想家莊·吐蘭(John Toland)寫咗本書叫《Christianity not Mysterious》(粵文:基督教唔神秘),佢喺呢本書當中大講佢對基督教嘅諗法,並且大力主張認為,信仰上最基礎嘅教條(即係良心同基本嘅道德)冚唪唥都可以由人齋靠理性嚟學,根本唔使教會教-呢種諗法係理神論嘅基本原則[75]。
英文:"It is characteristic of fanatics who read the holy scriptures to tell themselves: God killed, so I must kill; Abraham lied, Jacob deceived, Rachel stole: so I must steal, deceive, lie. But, wretch, you are neither Rachel, nor Jacob, nor Abraham, nor God; you are just a mad fool, and the popes who forbade the reading of the Bible were extremely wise."
粵文翻譯:啲睇完神聖經典(包括聖經)嘅狂人通常都會同自己講:上帝殺過人,所以我一定要殺人;亞伯拉罕講過大話,雅各呃過人,拉結偷過嘢[註 1],所以我一定要偷嘢、呃人、講大話。但係傻仔,你又唔係拉結、唔係雅各、唔係亞伯拉罕、唔係上帝;你衹不過係一個黐線蠢材,而唔俾人睇聖經嘅教宗真係醒到極點[註 2][81]。
英文:"[T]he serious enemies are the priests of the different religious sects, to whose spells on the human mind its improvement is ominous."
粵文翻譯:嚴重嘅敵人係唔同宗教教派嗰啲神父,人類心靈嘅改進危害到佢哋(指啲神父)向人類心靈施嘅咒語。
一般歷史學家都認為,湯瑪斯傑佛遜係美國開國元勛當中其中一個最爆響口噉表態撐理神論嘅(雖然佢話自己係個一位論派者,而唔係理神論者)。佢喺 1820 年寫咗《傑佛遜聖經》(The Jefferson Bible),書名全名《The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth》(粵文:拿撒勒人耶穌嘅一生同德行)。呢本書係聖經嘅節錄版,淨係收錄新約福音裏面耶穌嗰啲道德教誨-即係將舊約聖經、使徒保羅寫嗰柞嘢、以及啲有關預言同神蹟嘅內容通通攞走嗮。一般都認為,湯瑪斯傑佛遜佢噉樣做反映咗好強烈嘅理神論取向-唔信超自然嘅嘢,淨係要耶穌嘅道德教導[87]。
現代嘅理神論者嘗試將古典嘅理神論思想結合埋現代嘅哲學同科學知識,再加上理神論唔似得教會噉,由個組織嘅權威決定「應該信啲乜」,所以產生好多唔同嘅思想流派。好多時理神論者之間對上帝嘅本質同死後生命等嘅議題有唔同嘅意見。雖然係噉,始終佢哋都係受到湯瑪斯·潘恩等人嘅著作影響咗,所以佢哋一般都會同意「相信造物主」、「拒絕教會同啟示」、以及「用理性了解上帝」等嘅幾個基本諗法。World Union of Deists(WUD;「世界理神論者聯盟」)就噉樣定義現代人對理神論嘅了解[47]:
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原版英文:"Deism is the recognition of a universal creative force greater than that demonstrated by mankind, supported by personal observation of laws and designs in nature and the universe, perpetuated and validated by the innate ability of human reason coupled with the rejection of claims made by individuals and organized religions of having received special divine revelation."
Deism: An Anthology by Peter Gay (Van Nostrand, 1968)
Deism and Natural Religion: A Source Book by E. Graham Waring (Frederick Ungar, 1967)
The American Deists: Voices of Reason & Dissent in the Early Republic, by Kerry S. Walters (University of Kansas Press, 1992).
趙林. 《在上帝與牛頓之間》. 北京: 東方出版社. 2007.(中文)
理神論歷史
An Age of Infidels: The Politics of Religious Controversy in the Early United States by Eric R. Schlereth (University of Pennsylvania Press; 2013) 295 pages; on conflicts between deists and their opponents.
Herrick, James A. (1997). The Radical Rhetoric of the English Deists: The Discourse of Skepticism, 1680–1750. University of South Carolina Press.
English Deism: Its Roots and Its Fruits by John Orr (1934)
European Thought in the Eighteenth Century by Paul Hazard (1946, English translation 1954)
Early Deism in France: From the so-called 'deistes' of Lyon (1564) to Voltaire's 'Lettres philosophiques' (1734) by C. J. Betts (Martinus Nijhoff, 1984)
The Seventeenth Century Background: Studies on the Thought of the Age in Relation to Poetry and Religion by Basil Willey (1934)
The Eighteenth Century Background: Studies on the Idea of Nature in the Thought of the Period by Basil Willey (1940)
Simon Tyssot de Patot and the Seventeenth-Century Background of Critical Deism by David Rice McKee (Johns Hopkins Press, 1941)
The Historical Argument for the Resurrection of Jesus During the Deist Controversy by William Lane Craig (Edwin Mellen, 1985)
Deism, Masonry, and the Enlightenment. Essays Honoring Alfred Owen Aldridge. Ed. J. A. Leo Lemay. Newark, University of Delaware Press, 1987.
"Deism". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2012. In general, Deism refers to what can be called natural religion, the acceptance of a certain body of religious knowledge that is inborn in every person or that can be acquired by the use of reason and the rejection of religious knowledge when it is acquired through either revelation or the teaching of any church.
"Deism". Jewish Encyclopedia. 1906. Retrieved 2012-10-10. DEISM: A system of belief which posits God's existence as the cause of all things, and admits its perfection, but rejects Divine revelation and government, proclaiming the all-sufficiency of natural laws.
Reid, W. H. (1800). The Rise and Dissolution of the Infidel Societies in this Metropolis: Including the Origin of Modern Deism and Atheism, the Genius and Conduct of Thos Associations... From the Publication of Paine's Age of Reason Till the Present Period (etc.). Hatchard.
"Deism". The Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization. 2011. doi:10.1002/9780470670606.wbecc0408/abstract. Deism is a rationalistic, critical approach to theism with an emphasis on natural theology. The Deists attempted to reduce religion to what they regarded as its most foundational, rationally justifiable elements. Deism is not, strictly speaking, the teaching that God wound up the world like a watch and let it run on its own, though that teaching was embraced by some within the movement.
Davies, Philip (April 2010). "Beyond Labels: What Comes Next?". The Bible and Interpretation. Retrieved 2016-05-31. It has been accepted for decades that the Bible is not in principle either historically reliable or unreliable, but both: it contains both memories of real events and also fictions.
Joseph C. McLelland; Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion (November 1988). Prometheus rebound: the irony of atheism. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. p. 85.
Champion, J.A.I. (2014). The Pillars of Priestcraft Shaken: The Church of England and its Enemies, 1660-1730. Cambridge University Press (Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History). Champion maintains that historical argument was a central component of the Deists's defences of what they considered true religion.
David Hartley, for example, described himself as "quite in the necessitarian scheme. See Ferg, Stephen, "Two Early Works of David Hartley", Journal of the History of Philosophy, vol. 19, no. 2 (April 1981), pp. 173–89.
The discussion of the background of deism is based on the excellent summary in "The Challenge of the Seventeenth Century" in The Historical Jesus Question by Gregory W. Dawes (Westminster: John Knox Press, 2001). Good discussions of individual deist writers can be found in The Seventeenth Century Background and The Eighteenth Century Background by Basil Willey.
Couplet, Philippe; et al., eds. (1687), Confucius Sinarum Philosophus, sive, Scientia Sinensis Latine Exposita [Confucius, Philosopher of the Chinese, or, Chinese Knowledge Explained in Latin], Paris: Daniel Horthemels. (in Latin).
Gildon, Charles. The Deist's Manual. (British Philosophers and Theologians of the 17th & 18th Centuries Series.) London: for A. Roper, 1705; reprint, New York: Garland Publishing, 1977.
Raphael Lataster (2013). There was no Jesus, there is no God: A Scholarly Examination of the Scientific, Historical, and Philosophical Evidence & Arguments for Monotheism. p. 165. ISBN 1492234419. This one god could be of the deistic or pantheistic sort. Deism might be superior in explaining why God has seemingly left us to our own devices and pantheism could be the more logical option as it fits well with the ontological argument's 'maximally-great entity' and doesn't rely on unproven concepts about 'nothing' (as in 'creation out of nothing'). A mixture of the two, pandeism, could be the most likely God-concept of all.