There’s a lot of confusion about what these words mean. To clear it up, we need to think clearly. To think clearly, we need to understand claims and how we respond to them.
A claim is a statement that is true or false. A belief is a claim accepted as true, which then becomes a rule for action.
Only Three Options
When we’re presented with a claim, there are three options. We can accept it, which means we believe it. We can reject it, which means we disbelieve it. Or we can suspend judgment about it, which means neither accepting nor rejecting the claim.
It’s important to understand that there is no fourth option. A claim can only be accepted, rejected, or met with suspended judgment. With this in mind, we can think clearly about these terms.
The claim “God exists” can only be accepted, rejected, or met with suspended judgment. If we accept it, we are theists. If we reject it, we are atheists. If we suspend judgment about it, we are agnostics.
An atheist, then, is someone who rejects the claim that God exists. This also means that they hold the claim that God does not exist, which means the burden of proof is on them to show that God does not exist. That is why atheists play a sleight of hand and try to claim the agnostic position under the atheistic label. It’s dishonest, but common.
It should now be clear that “God exists” is a very ambiguous claim. It’s important to define what kind of God is meant. There are many alternatives, such as pantheism, Trinitarianism, Islamic theism, polytheism, and, of course, deism.
Many people reject the Christian anthropomorphic God. This does not make them atheists. It makes them non Christians. People who read the Bible and disbelieve in that kind of God should not immediately claim to be atheists. They should identify as non Christians. There are many conceptions of God, and some are quite sophisticated and correspond very well with science.
What Kind of God?
Next, we can consider what kind of God exists. There are three major divisions, each based on God’s transcendence and immanence.
First are those who believe that God is both transcendent and immanent. This is classical Theism. Second are those who believe that God is only immanent. This is Pantheism. Lastly, there are those who believe that God is only transcendent. This is Deism. You could say that the central claim of contemporary Deism is the existence of a transcendent God.
Another distinction is whether God is one or many. Monotheism holds that there is one and only one God. This is the position of Deism. Polytheism holds that there is more than one God, meaning there are many gods. Tritheism, which is a form of polytheism, holds that there are three Gods in one God.
One last distinction we’ll consider in this article is whether or not God is a person. If God is a personal supreme being, then God is a person. But many others believe that God is beyond personhood. This is sometimes called nonpersonal or transpersonal. I prefer “transpersonal.” Most deists believe that God is transpersonal, meaning a higher reality, a higher power, an ultimate reality, or infinite consciousness.
Conclusion
We’ve taken a long tour through some of the ways to understand God and claims about God. If we believe that God exists than we fall under the broad category of theism. From there, God’s transcendence and immanence, number, and personhood all help locate us on the map of claims about God.
To summarize, a Deist is someone who believes in a God who is transcendent, one, and transpersonal. Most Deists also believe that God does not intervene in the laws of nature, although historically they were divided on the question.
Zen Deism, which is the type of Deism advocated here, adds to this basic belief other beliefs and practices. Key among these are karma, rebirth, and liberation.