28. Deism: The God who doesn't intervene

We proceed into looking at Part II: The Turning Point, as Charles Taylor outlines deism as a hinge point between classic Christianity and exclusive humanism.

In this episode we look at the 4 anthropocentric shifts Taylor outlines that characterise the shift to providential deism:

i) the eclipse of higher purpose than human flourishing in the here and now

ii) the eclipse of grace and intervention of God in daily life

iii) the eclipse of mystery and reduction of the world to a knowable closed unit

iv) the eclipse of the goal of human transformation/deification in this life

Taylor says of this line of Christianity that "it barely involved the saving action of Christ, nor did it dwell on the life of devotion and prayer, although the 17th century was rich in this. The argument turned exclusively on demonstrating God as reator, and showing his Providence" (p 225).

References:

-Pages of A Secular Age, Charles Taylor: (221-225)

Website:

https://sites.google.com/contemplatingculture