The Conservative Son

Deism, as defined by Dictionary.com, among other variations, is: "belief in a God who created the world but has since remained indifferent to it." My "Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary" defines it, in another way, as: "In philosophy, the belief that reason is sufficient to prove the existence of God, with the consequent rejection of revelation and authority." The latter leans more toward a traditional characterization of Enlightenment deism.

I am neither scholar nor philosopher, but I know how to open a book, read the words written therein and gain at least a modicum of understanding thereof. I have studied many of these philosophies and find an interesting progression of thinking on this road of intellectual meandering.

Modern deism has it's roots as far back as the very first century. John, the Apostle of Christ, warned us of those who would deny that "Jesus Christ is come in the flesh." Those he identified in that same passage as "antichrist." (Sorry, my fundamentalist friends, but that is the Bible's definition of "antichrist." No capital "a.")

Now, this idea begs the question: If you don't believe Christ is come "in the flesh," what do you think of Him? You might believe a lot of positive things: teacher, prophet, healer, miracle worker. One thing, though, that you couldn't reasonably accept is that Jesus is the Christ of God. You couldn't accept that Christ is "very God." You might think of Him as some sort of an angel, a demigod or even a demiurge, but He would not, could not be God. The only thing that can bring a man to acceptance that Jesus is and was who the Bible says He is, is faith alone. "Sola Fide."

What would later be called the "Gnostic Gospels" were nothing more than an attack on Christ's divinity. While any expert I've seen or heard tell of would never claim that these brief books are any reliable sort of "Gospel," they are a revelation of the twisted reason that was grasping at the heels of the Church even before its weaning.

Further, we know that at some point along about the fifth century, Europe entered into an oppressive, stifling "Dark Age" that sought to suppress reason, thought, science and, of course, even true religion. The occidental world was taught that "God said it and that settles it." The concept of a rational God who had any desire to walk and talk with men as practical equals was anathema to the iron fist of the Roman Catholic church.

Time passes, Columbus sails the ocean blue and the New World is opened to mankind. Thousands and hundreds of thousands flee to a land where men can think freely, work for their own gain and worship their own God by the dictates of their own consciences. Europe itself saw a Renaissance of invention and thought that began to grind away at that iron fist which had subjugated the soul of western man for centuries. For the first time, men were looking, not only outwardly to find God, but believed they could, after a manner, find God within themselves.

No, they weren't abandoning God in any numbers or saying that man is God. (As so many seem to think today.) They just began to conclude through, empirical study and natural science that, perhaps, what the priests and bishops had been telling them for centuries about an aloof, repressive God who wanted not to share himself with man was, possibly, not truly His way. Perchance, we who "have the mind of Christ" should exercise it and could, through reason, know the mind of God.

While acumen is desirable and thinking and asking questions is never sinful, dismissing the Holy Scriptures, not to mention the Holy Ghost, can lead us in paths of unrighteousness where lies become truth and even evil can seem good. The unregenerate mind that searches the skies and Scriptures, will never find the harmony that God intended to exist between them. The unregenerate mind that searches the skies and earth, will assume there is no harmony to discover. So, it was inevitable that conclusions were drawn that the intellect in love with Christ would never have drawn.

Remember, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no god.'" These men were a lot of things, but fools they weren't. Empirical observation caused some healthy psyches to postulate that, "Yes, God is there, but do I even need someone to tell me so? Can I not, by cognition, understand that He is there? If this is true, has mankind ever really needed 'divine revelation?'"

It doesn't take long to see how even a logical man, especially one who looks around at the allurements and temptations of a vast, new world of science, pseudo-reason and infinite opportunities for abandon might be led, by discovery and pleasure, to flirt with the idea of shaking off the tenets of "revelation and authority" that have, in his way of thinking, kept men bound to old mores that were quickly becoming quaint and archaic. How long would it take for some rational men to conclude that not only do the Holy Scriptures no longer hold sway over their lives, but their testimony about who and what Jesus was should now be viewed as less than reliable.

While some few of our Founding Fathers, very few, did subscribe, to one degree or another, to some aspects of this philosophy, even a modicum of research would reveal that they were, almost without exception, devout Christians. Many were even ministers. Some could have been influenced by what is sometimes called "Christian Deism." Which, oversimplified, means that, as I am fond of saying, acceptance of Christ by faith doesn't mean the abandonment of reason.

Now, I realize that words change, evolve, progress and digress and what might've meant one thing two hundred years ago, doesn't necessarily mean the same thing today. Cool hasn't always meant "cool." Two centuries ago, I would've been called a liberal. Remember, though, "Words mean things." They do change, but you can't change the meaning of any word at any moment that you so chose simply to suit your own ignorant, mercurial desires and passions. Society, over time and usage, is what dictates contemporary meanings of words.

In the past century, deism came more to be defined as the concept of "A God who didn't care, who lived away out there." Mostly disappeared is the idea of learning about God through reason and empiricism and appeared is the idea of an aloof God who is, frankly, unknowable. Renaissance deism never, never, never had any connotations such as are ascribed to it in this modern age by those who are all but atheists. (By the way, I don't believe in atheists.)

It has now become fashionable to abandon all facts of history and cast defamations and aspersions on our Founders by accusing them of being, frankly, Godless. Furthermore, many today pathetically attempt to elevate themselves to a level that had been, by these original free thinkers, held as a place for the Creator of Heaven and earth, whomever and whatever He might ultimately be.

This is no more than the continuing pursuit of anarchy and lawlessness. Modern agnostic thinkers desire only to pull the darkness over their sins in a vainglorious attempt to hide themselves from the Truth of God. Even more, they foist upon those who may disagree with them not only the tolerance of their intellectual hypocrisy, but acceptance of and adherence to their twisted logic, squashing any questioning of their lives and lifestyles whether overt or covert, verbal or mental.

Now, what has all this to do with George Washington? The plaque, shown above, placed in the tomb over the remains of Father Washington and his bride, are the last testimony the General wanted to leave this world. He had the good sense to know that many would come to see his burial place and, even though he is gone to his great reward, he could continue to testify his faith in Christ to every visitor at his tomb.

Deist? I think not! Are you as tired of that red herring as I am? (Of course, I would expect unscrupulous deists to lie about General Washington being a deist.) This misnomer is cast at Washington by liars and the willfully ignorant like so much spaghetti tossed at the wall. After enough is thrown, some of it is going to stick. They misuse the word, some unknowingly, but most knowingly, in the perverted hope that they could count the godly general as one of their own.

Freemasonry inculcates the belief in a Grand Architect of the Universe, Who created us, guides us, grants us eternal life and will require some sort of accounting of our actions here on earth, when, at the "end of our toilsome journey," we stand before His throne. Brother Washington, among many things that he was proud to be, was proud to be counted as a member of our fraternity. What will these slime-ball prevaricators say next? Will they say he was a hypocritical fake or weak-minded dupe? Actually, they'll say anything.

Sadly, calling our first president a deist, is one of the many lies that have been told about Washington in his time and ours. I, for one, know better.

1 Corinthians 2:16
For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.

1 John 4:3
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world

St. John 11:25,26a
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

Labels: angels, antichrist, Christian, deism, demiurge, Freemason, Geore Washington