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Switch to Forum Live View Any good books on Deism?
5 years ago  ::  Jan 05, 2008 - 12:34PM #1
chocolatemilklover
chocolatemilklover
Posts: 2
I was just wondering if anyone knew of any good books on Deism?  Obviously there is "Age of Reason" by Thomas Paine, which is an amazing read, dated, but still relevant.  I just bought a book called "God on your own" by Joseph Dispenza.  I don't think Dispenza thinks of himself as a Deist, but the book seems like it could be Deism 101 (I haven't read it yet, JUST bought it). 

Anything else?  Any movies? Anything?
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5 years ago  ::  Jan 20, 2008 - 6:43PM #2
RevKeithWright
RevKeithWright
Posts: 137
Ethan Allen
Reason: The Only Oracle of Man
http://libertyonline.hypermall.com/allen-reason.html

There are several things to consider when reading 18th century, and prior, books on Deism is that the Deists of the time were not far away from their Christian, and in the case of Spinoza, Jewish roots and many of the previous concepts...heaven, hell, providence, and others were still engrained in the thought processes of the Deists who were laying new ground as far as the philosophy of Deism was concerned.

Only in the last few years has Deism gone through a renaissance of sorts and has slowly gained interest.  I am currently working on a book about modern Deism and its importance as, "The God Alternative."

We have Atheism on the left, and Theism on the right...I hope to plant Deism right in the middle and offer it as a serious, viable alternative to those not comfortable with the left or the right and I believe that once people are truly aware of what Deism really is, that they will identify with it and feel quite comfortable about their faith in their belief....Deism is, after all, a non-prophet religion!

Movies?  Mindwalk is a very powerful movie to me though it can't be considered a Deist movie...it covers the concepts which make me stand in awe of the universe every day.
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5 years ago  ::  Mar 10, 2008 - 4:29AM #3
Tpaine
Tpaine
Posts: 8,240

chocolatemilklover wrote:

I was just wondering if anyone knew of any good books on Deism?  Obviously there is "Age of Reason" by Thomas Paine, which is an amazing read, dated, but still relevant.  I just bought a book called "God on your own" by Joseph Dispenza.  I don't think Dispenza thinks of himself as a Deist, but the book seems like it could be Deism 101 (I haven't read it yet, JUST bought it). 

Anything else?  Any movies? Anything?



Keith mentioned most of what I would have, but I can suggest two more:

My Life With God, In and Out of the Church by Raymond Fontaine, a former Catholic priest who is now a Deist. copyright 2000

Deism and Social Ethics by Robert Corfe, which may be a bit too political but I enjoyed it. copyright 2007

Both should be available at amazon.com in paperback.

"When it shall be said in any country in the world, my poor are happy; neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them; my jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars; the aged are not in want, the taxes are not oppressive; the rational world is my friend, because I am a friend of its happiness: When these things can be said, then may the country boast its constitution and its government." -- Thomas Paine: The Rights Of Man (1791)
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5 years ago  ::  Mar 10, 2008 - 4:29AM #4
Tpaine
Tpaine
Posts: 8,240

chocolatemilklover wrote:

I was just wondering if anyone knew of any good books on Deism?  Obviously there is "Age of Reason" by Thomas Paine, which is an amazing read, dated, but still relevant.  I just bought a book called "God on your own" by Joseph Dispenza.  I don't think Dispenza thinks of himself as a Deist, but the book seems like it could be Deism 101 (I haven't read it yet, JUST bought it). 

Anything else?  Any movies? Anything?



Keith mentioned most of what I would have, but I can suggest two more:

My Life With God, In and Out of the Church by Raymond Fontaine, a former Catholic priest who is now a Deist. copyright 2000

Deism and Social Ethics by Robert Corfe, which may be a bit too political but I enjoyed it. copyright 2007

Both should be available at amazon.com in paperback.

"When it shall be said in any country in the world, my poor are happy; neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them; my jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars; the aged are not in want, the taxes are not oppressive; the rational world is my friend, because I am a friend of its happiness: When these things can be said, then may the country boast its constitution and its government." -- Thomas Paine: The Rights Of Man (1791)
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5 years ago  ::  Jul 29, 2008 - 1:50AM #5
Wiscidea
Wiscidea
Posts: 2,313
[QUOTE=RevKeithWright;227893]Ethan Allen
Reason: The Only Oracle of Man
http://libertyonline.hypermall.com/allen-reason.html
[/QUOTE]

Hello.

My exposure to Deism is limited to Thomas Paine's "The Age of Reason". So thank you very much for the link to Ethan Allen's book. I was looking for this book, but could find only expensive used editions or reproductions. After skimming through text at the url, I see that I'll probably have to print it out for careful study and annotation. I noticed one section presents a view quite similar to the Buddhist concept of Dependent Arising. Is there any indication that the early Deists were familiar with Buddhism?

I have one more question for now. I'm a Luddite in one respect. I prefer books over electronic text. Is there a recently printed and affordable edition of "Reason: The Only Oracle of Man" available? I'd really like a paperback I might carry around while reading it. I just can't adapt to reading long texts on computer monitors or a stapled sheaf of 8.5 x 11 paper.

Thank you.
"Some people claim that there's a woman to blame. But I know it's my own damn fault."

Jimmy Buffet (Margaritaville)
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5 years ago  ::  Jul 30, 2008 - 1:43AM #6
RevKeithWright
RevKeithWright
Posts: 137
[QUOTE=wiscidea;654688]Hello.

My exposure to Deism is limited to Thomas Paine's "The Age of Reason". So thank you very much for the link to Ethan Allen's book. I was looking for this book, but could find only expensive used editions or reproductions. After skimming through text at the url, I see that I'll probably have to print it out for careful study and annotation. I noticed one section presents a view quite similar to the Buddhist concept of Dependent Arising. Is there any indication that the early Deists were familiar with Buddhism?

I have one more question for now. I'm a Luddite in one respect. I prefer books over electronic text. Is there a recently printed and affordable edition of "Reason: The Only Oracle of Man" available? I'd really like a paperback I might carry around while reading it. I just can't adapt to reading long texts on computer monitors or a stapled sheaf of 8.5 x 11 paper.

Thank you.[/QUOTE]

    I can't tell you about their knowlege of Buddhism or if a current copy of the book is available.

     May I suggest re-formatting the text?  I use my iPaq as an electronic reader and love it.  You can get them on eBay (mine is the rx1955) for around $100.  They take up to a 4GB SD(HC) card and will play movies, MP3, WMA lossless (CD quality) show photos, do MS word, Powerpoint, Excel, has WiFi, IE, and you can send Skype test messages.  You may want to consider this option.
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5 years ago  ::  Dec 16, 2008 - 5:46AM #7
Tpaine
Tpaine
Posts: 8,240

wiscidea wrote:

Hello.

My exposure to Deism is limited to Thomas Paine's "The Age of Reason". So thank you very much for the link to Ethan Allen's book. I was looking for this book, but could find only expensive used editions or reproductions. After skimming through text at the url, I see that I'll probably have to print it out for careful study and annotation. I noticed one section presents a view quite similar to the Buddhist concept of Dependent Arising. Is there any indication that the early Deists were familiar with Buddhism?

I have one more question for now. I'm a Luddite in one respect. I prefer books over electronic text. Is there a recently printed and affordable edition of "Reason: The Only Oracle of Man" available? I'd really like a paperback I might carry around while reading it. I just can't adapt to reading long texts on computer monitors or a stapled sheaf of 8.5 x 11 paper.

Thank you.


The Ethan Allen book is available from Amazon.com, but you will find it hard to read as it is written in 18th century style meaning that the letter "s" looks like an "f" and the print quality is terrible. It looks like the whole thing was done on a Xerox machine. Anyway, the link is: http://www.amazon.com/Reason-Oracle-Com … 292&sr=1-6.
You also may be interested in reading Elihu Palmer's Principles of Nature, which is available online at http://deism.com/, or you can buy it used from Amazon starting at $86.00

"When it shall be said in any country in the world, my poor are happy; neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them; my jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars; the aged are not in want, the taxes are not oppressive; the rational world is my friend, because I am a friend of its happiness: When these things can be said, then may the country boast its constitution and its government." -- Thomas Paine: The Rights Of Man (1791)
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5 years ago  ::  Dec 17, 2008 - 9:01PM #8
Wiscidea
Wiscidea
Posts: 2,313
Hello TPaine.

Given that so many classic works have been re-published over and over, why do you suppose there aren't any publishers interested in printing a good -- i.e., better type -- paperback version of Ethan Allen's book? Seems like an excellent time to reintroduce Americans to Deism. Surely, there is an "amateur" historian, if not an academic scholar, out there who can deliver this to us... perhaps with some commentary.

Thank you for bringing deism.com to my attention. It is a great website, packed with information. I sort of got lost there earlier.

Peace.
"Some people claim that there's a woman to blame. But I know it's my own damn fault."

Jimmy Buffet (Margaritaville)
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5 years ago  ::  Dec 17, 2008 - 9:01PM #9
Wiscidea
Wiscidea
Posts: 2,313
Hello TPaine.

Given that so many classic works have been re-published over and over, why do you suppose there aren't any publishers interested in printing a good -- i.e., better type -- paperback version of Ethan Allen's book? Seems like an excellent time to reintroduce Americans to Deism. Surely, there is an "amateur" historian, if not an academic scholar, out there who can deliver this to us... perhaps with some commentary.

Thank you for bringing deism.com to my attention. It is a great website, packed with information. I sort of got lost there earlier.

Peace.
"Some people claim that there's a woman to blame. But I know it's my own damn fault."

Jimmy Buffet (Margaritaville)
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4 years ago  ::  Feb 13, 2009 - 12:38PM #10
Bear_Claw
Bear_Claw
Posts: 6
I just ordered Paine’s “Age Of Reason” last night from Amazon!

Since I’m fairly new at this still, I’m quite excited to read that book. The quotes I’ve read are quite phenomenal.

Just wanted to share my excitement! :)
Cheers!
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