How Deism is defined usually depends on who is doing the defining.

The Dictionary.com definition sounds neutral, but part of it is not: "1. belief in the existence of a God on the evidence of reason and nature only, with rejection of supernatural revelation (distinguished from theism). 2. belief in a God who created the world but has since remained indifferent to it." Definition #1 is not bad. Definition #2 adds a value judgment for some reason. The Answers.com definition is just as biased. It says the Deist God abandoned His creation. As a Deist, I cannot agree that the Deist God is indifferent or that He "abandoned" His creation. A Deist might agree that the Deist God does not intervene or interfere, but that same Deist might also point out that this same creation does not need intervention. God's providence is such that all nature needs has already been provided. Not intervening is not the same as indifference.

The Wikipedia definition is long and detailed. It cites sources and is quite balanced. It is like a neutral primer. That does not mean that this neutrality came easily. If you click the history tab and look at the story behind the page, you will see that there was a lot of contention before contributors reached the compromise you find there.

So if we are to join other sources in providing biased definitions, my definition is this: Deism is a religion or category of belief that assumes the probable existence of a higher power based on reason, nature and experience. Explaining Deism can be complex, so any short definition will have some shortcomings.

Is Deism a category of belief like Theism or Atheism or Agnosticism? With Theism, for instance, we can say that Theism can be broken down into types such as Monotheism and Polytheism; Monotheism can be broken down into religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam; Christianity can be broken down into Catholicism and Protestantism, Protestantism can be broken down into denominations such as Baptists, Methodists, etc., and denominations can often be broken down into sects, etc.

Let's stop and agree to not go there. Deism can be a category of belief or a religion, depending on who is doing the defining. Frankly, it may be more difficult to find a definition for the word "religion" than to define Deism. Can you define "religion"?

Perhaps we should not get too hung up on finding the perfect definition. I would recommend that you instead spend some time reading about Deism here at the site. Try the primers. Visit the other Deist Alliance sites. Try some other sites we recommend in the Links section here at Deist Information.