What does deist mean?
A deist is someone who believes that a supreme being—often conceived as a creator or 'first cause'—brought the universe into existence but does not intervene in it through miracles, prophecy, or revealed scripture. Deists hold that human reason and the observation of nature are sufficient to establish God's existence, making deism a distinctly rationalist alternative to both orthodox religion and atheism. The term belongs chiefly to intellectual and historical discourse: deist ideas flourished during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries among thinkers associated with the Enlightenment, and several prominent figures of the American founding era, including Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, have been described as deists. In tone the word is neutral and scholarly rather than pejorative. It is closely tied to its parent term 'deism' (the belief system itself) and to the adjective 'deistic,' which describes ideas or arguments characteristic of that worldview.
nounA person who believes in the existence of a supreme being, specifically a creator, but rejects revealed religion and holds that knowledge of God comes from reason and observation of the natural world rather than from scripture or divine revelation.
- A believer in deism: one who accepts the existence of a creator God on grounds of reason and nature, without accepting revealed religion or supernatural intervention.
"Jefferson is often described as a deist who admired Jesus as a moral teacher but rejected the miracles attributed to him."
"Voltaire, though often critical of organized religion, was essentially a deist who believed in a supreme being discernible through reason."
"In the salons of Enlightenment Europe, to be known as a deist was to occupy a middle ground between orthodox faith and outright atheism."
Standard plural; used when referring to multiple adherents of deism, often collectively as a group within a historical period.
"Many eighteenth-century deists regarded organized churches with suspicion."
Many of America's founding fathers—Franklin, Jefferson, possibly Washington—were likely deists, believing in a God who wound up the universe like a clock and then stepped back.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of deist
The word 'deist' derives from Latin 'deus,' meaning 'god,' entering English via French 'déiste' in the early seventeenth century. It originally served as a near-synonym for 'theist' (from Greek 'theos'), but over time the two terms diverged, with 'deist' coming to denote the specific position that God's existence can be known by reason alone without appeal to revelation. Cognates such as 'deism' and 'deistic' developed alongside it as the movement acquired a name for its body of ideas.
Related word forms
How deist is actually used
The word carries an intellectual, historical register, most often encountered in discussions of Enlightenment thought, 18th-century philosophy, or American history. It describes a specific theological position rather than serving as general vocabulary, and it should not be used loosely to mean simply 'religious' or 'spiritual.' The related adjective 'deistic' is more common than 'deistical' in modern usage.
Easily confused with deist
A theist believes in a personal God who intervenes in the world through revelation and miracles, whereas a deist believes only in a creator God who does not intervene after creating the universe.