John Toland (1670-1722) was one of the pioneers of the deist movement, the predominate philosophy of the Anglican Church in the late 17th and pre Wesley 18th century.
Many of the American founding fathers including George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. adhered to this philosophy, which replaced revelation and tradition with reason.
Deism can be summed up thus: God has created everything and he has set all the laws in motion in a perfect way and no intervention can improve things. Instead God is removed from human affairs and therefore it is not rational to believe in any supernatural aspects of Christianity such as miracles. As this meant they rejected much of the miraculous and prophetic aspects of Scripture and ecclesiastical tradition, the believer was expected to use reason and their own conscience to arrive at their own moral tenets.
Many of the American founding fathers including George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. adhered to this philosophy, which replaced revelation and tradition with reason.
Deism can be summed up thus: God has created everything and he has set all the laws in motion in a perfect way and no intervention can improve things. Instead God is removed from human affairs and therefore it is not rational to believe in any supernatural aspects of Christianity such as miracles. As this meant they rejected much of the miraculous and prophetic aspects of Scripture and ecclesiastical tradition, the believer was expected to use reason and their own conscience to arrive at their own moral tenets.
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