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Multiple Choice

Deism in the Enlightenment era referred to belief in what kind of deity?

Deism in the Enlightenment is the view that a creator fashioned the universe and its laws and then let it run according to reason and natural law, without stepping in to perform miracles or daily interventions. This non-interventionist, rational approach is why deists are described as believing in a supreme being who does not interfere with the cosmos after creation. Enlightenment thinkers like Voltaire and Newton used this idea to emphasize observation, reason, and the idea that the orderly workings of nature reflect a designed world. That description matches the option that speaks of a supreme being who does not intervene in the universe. The other ideas fit different belief systems: believing in multiple gods who actively govern would be polytheism; rejecting the existence of any deity aligns with atheism; and the view that God intervenes through miracles aligns with traditional theistic beliefs, not Deism.

Deism in the Enlightenment is the view that a creator fashioned the universe and its laws and then let it run according to reason and natural law, without stepping in to perform miracles or daily interventions. This non-interventionist, rational approach is why deists are described as believing in a supreme being who does not interfere with the cosmos after creation. Enlightenment thinkers like Voltaire and Newton used this idea to emphasize observation, reason, and the idea that the orderly workings of nature reflect a designed world.

That description matches the option that speaks of a supreme being who does not intervene in the universe. The other ideas fit different belief systems: believing in multiple gods who actively govern would be polytheism; rejecting the existence of any deity aligns with atheism; and the view that God intervenes through miracles aligns with traditional theistic beliefs, not Deism.