| 释义 |
deist|ˈdiːɪst|
[a. F. déiste, f. L. de-us god: see -ist.]
One who acknowledges the existence of a God upon the testimony of reason, but rejects revealed religion.
(The term was originally opposed to atheist, and was interchangeable with theist even in the end of the 17th c. (Locke, Second Vindication, 1695, W. Nichols Conference with a Theist, 1696); but the negative aspect of deism, as opposed to Christianity, became the accepted one, and deist and theist were differentiated as in quots. 1878–80.)
[1563Viret Instruct. Chr. II. Ep. Ded., J'ai entendu qu'il y en a de ceste bande, qui s'appellent Deistes, d'un mot tout nouveau, lequel ils veulent oposer a Atheiste.] 1621Burton Anat. Mel. iii. iv. ii. i, Cosen-germans to these men are many of our great Philosophers and Deists. 1670R. Traill Serm. vi. Sel. Writ. (1845) 107 We have a generation among us..called Deists, which is nothing else but a new court word for Atheist. 1692Bentley Boyle Lect. 6 Some infidels..to avoid the odious name of atheists, would shelter and screen themselves under a new one of deists, which is not quite so obnoxious. 1711–37Shaftesbury Charac. II. 209 Averse as I am to the cause of theism, or name of deist, when taken in a sense exclusive of revelation. 1748Hartley Observ. Man ii. iii. 347 Unless he be a sincere Deist at least, i.e. unless he believe in the Existence and Attributes of God. 1788Wesley Wks. (1872) VII. 196 A Deist—I mean one who believes there is a God distinct from matter; but does not believe the Bible. 1878D. Patrick in Encycl. Brit. VII. 33 The later distinction between theist and deist, which stamped the latter word as excluding the belief in providence or the immanence of God, was apparently formulated in the end of the 18th century by those rationalists who were aggrieved at being identified with the naturalists. 1880Sat. Rev. 26 June 820 In speaking of a deist they fix their attention on the negative, in speaking of a theist on the positive aspect of his belief. |