Deism
Deism is the belief that the universe was created by a God who then made no further intervention in its affairs, often expressed by the metaphor of the "Divine Watchmaker" who created a mechanism so perfect as to be self-regulating. Deists do not believe in miracles or revelations. Because of their rejection of revelation, they attempt to infer their theology entirely from philosophical arguments.
Deism was popular among thinkers of the Enlightenment such as Voltaire and the Founding Fathers of the United States, but serious advocacy of deism is unusual among more recent theologians.
Thomas Jefferson is perhaps the most well known and outspoken of the American founding deists. See Jefferson on Deism for some quotes. Thomas Paine was also a deist, The Age of Reason being one publication which particularly expressed this view. Benjamin Franklin seems also to have shared components of this view.
See also: theism, atheism, agnosticism, aldeism, pantheism, panentheism, God, universism, list of Deists
