Deist Jesus

A Deist Jesus
This article does not insist that a human or mythical Jesus did in fact exist.
Setting aside the multifarious creeds and dogmas of all the various denominations and faiths, there is a core as old as humankind that can be termed natural religion. This is what arises from human observation and experience processed through reason.
Natural religion started to acquire a more formal aspect in 17th Century England when deism began to emerge. The word “deism” comes from the Latin “deus” which means God and was adopted to differentiate from the Greek “theos”, the root of theism, denoting the beliefs of Trinitarian Christians.
Deists proposed that the universe in general and humankind in particular, are not some random, chance creation. The intentional Originator is commonly called “God”, although deists often prefer the word Deus.
God or Deus, it is insisted, defies human comprehension and description, but the existence of such can be inferred from the complexity of creation acting according to discernible laws. Humans have purpose in their lives, so why should purpose be denied on behalf of wider creation.
Early deists mostly considered themselves to be Christians, their thinking emerging from the Trinitarian orthodoxy of the day. However, they insisted that Jesus had taught natural religion, his teachings subsequently subverted by Paul of Tarsus.
This subversion was further exacerbated when Christianity became a formal religion and the “word of God” was set into creeds and dogma by Church councils, beginning with the first in 325AD.
Jesus taught within a Jewish context, but his genius was to transcend it. The natural religion he promulgated was that one God was/is creator, with love of God and love of one’s neighbors being the two commandments.
Evidence that Jesus transcended his Jewish background can be seen in his broadening the concept of neighbor. At his time, according to Jewish law, a neighbor was a fellow Jew or a non-Jewish “sojourner”, a guest of the Jews. Jesus extended the notion of neighbor to include every Jew and gentile in the world.
Deists opposed Trinitarian doctrines such as original sin, the sacrificial atonement by Jesus’ crucifixion, the condemnation to Hell of non-Christians, the Trinity of God and the divinity of Jesus. Deists intended restoring the natural religion of Jesus.
Scientific thinking was embraced by deists as demonstrating the organized wonder of creation. Science was an ally not an obstacle to expanding human understanding of some of the Originator’s intentions. If science contradicted a religious precept, then that precept had been falsified and must give way.
Deism accepted the example Jesus set, that orthodoxy is no guarantee of veracity. Indeed, natural religion requires each individual to engage with creation, look beyond accepted orthodoxy and employ reason to gain some appreciation of divine being.
Early deists mostly considered themselves to be Christians, their thinking emerging from the Trinidadian orthodoxy of the day. However, they insisted that Jesus had taught natural religion, his teachings subsequently subverted by Paul of Tarsus.
-Original Source.
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