God is Good

Living by the Golden Rule

Belief Slide

Beliefs


Here you will find the basic beliefs of Christian Deism. The Archives contains essays that provide a more thorough explanation and we encourage you to explore them.

 

1. There is only one God, Creator of the Universe and the natural laws that govern it.

2. Every human being is a Child of God, and infused with the spirit of God.  When we do God’s will we become closer to God.

3. Jesus taught that it is God’s will for you to “love your neighbor (including enemies) as yourself,” (Matthew 22:39; 5:43-44) which means that “whatever you wish that people would do to you, do so to them.” (Matthew 7:12).

4. God’s will is taught to everyone by God (John 6:45) in the design of human nature, and is learned through human experience and reasoning.  We worship (honor) God by doing God’s will.

5. Failures to love others, by causing human suffering or by being indifferent to human suffering, are offenses (sins) against God, and are destructive to your soul.

6. If you repent of your sins and you forgive others who sin against you, God forgives your sins (Matthew 6:14-15), and restores your soul.

7. If you try to live by love for others, and sincerely repent of your failures to love, you will enjoy satisfaction with yourself in this life, and you have reason to hope that God will give you another life.


Worship

Consistent with the teachings of Jesus, acts of compassion are perhaps the best expression of God’s will. To a Christian Deist they are valued more than the religious rituals of organized worship that are found in most churches today.

Prayer

Communication with God is unique to each individual, for Christian Deists prayer is generally performed in a private setting, with emphasis on compassion and the growth of each individual s relationship with God.

Ministry

Everyone is responsible for “ministering” to, or serving, others. But Christian Deists do not believe that a person should be paid for doing this. When Jesus sent his disciples out to preach the coming of the “kingdom of God,” Jesus said, “You have received without pay, give without pay” (Matthew 10:8). On their missionary journeys, the disciples were allowed to accept only room and board from their hosts, and the disciples were prohibited from accepting money payments. This sounds like good advice

Fellowship

Christian Deism holds that Creation itself is the proper place to worship and glorify God. Physical buildings for worship are not only unnecessary, but often lead to corruption and distancing from God. In Jesus day, the Jerusalem temple had become a place of business where animals were sold for sacrifices and money-changers made profits from Jewish pilgrims exchanging their foreign currency (Mark 11:15). Jesus tried to remedy the commercializing of religion by driving the merchants and money-changers from the temple. The commercializing of Christianity is an enormous problem today, as blatantly evidenced by the numerous TV and radio “evangelists” seeking money donations in exchange for audio tapes, books, and other “gifts.” Even in local churches, where many sincere ministers earn their livings, money often becomes a divisive issue among church members as they debate how much to pay the minister, how much to spend on new buildings, and other money-related matters. Often the amount of money spent on their churches far exceeds the amount spent on relieving human suffering. Christian Deists welcome fellowship regardless of the location as an oppotunity to perform God s will

© 2011 Christian Deism
Developed by Sovereign Image