DEI GRATIA
ISO
DEBM
sermons, in two Tolnmes, hare passed throogb two editions in this conntiy, and through three in England. They are models of practical pulpit discourse. See Memoir by Rev, Dr, Godtdmy and Prtf. to 2d edit, Ser^ SHMw, vol. i ; also Sprague, Afmak^ y, 425.
Del Gratia (Lat by tke grace of God) is a form- ula used by bishops and monarchs. ** Felix of Rome (A.D. 356) styled himself epi§copu$ per Dei graiiam. Afterwards it came to be appended by archbishops, bishops, abbots, abbesses, deans, monks, and even chaplains, to their titles in letters and other docu- ments, as an expression of dependence. After the middle of the 18th century, when the sanction of the pope began to be considered necessary to ecclesiastical offices, the higher clergy wrote Dei ti ApottoUcm tedii gratid, * by the favor of God and the apostolic see.' At a later period many of them preferred to write migerationedimndjpermiasionedivinaytaidihtlike; but they still continued to be styled by others Dei gtxUid, In the British Islands this style was generally drop- ped about the time of the Beformation, but it was occa- sionally given to the archbishops of Canterbuiy and York even after the beginning of the 17th century. Beginning with the times of the Carlovingians, many temporal princes, earb, and barons made use of the formula Dei Gratii ; and before the 15th century no idea of independence or of divine right seems to have attached to it. But in 1442, king Charles YII of France forbade its use by the Comte d'Armagnac, and in 1449 obliged the duke of Burgundy to declare that he used it without prejudice to the rights of the French crown. These instances show that it had now begun to be regarded as belonging exclusively to sovereigns who owed no allegiance to any other earthly potentate or power. In this way, what was originally a pious ex- pression of humility came to be looked upon as an as- sertion of the doctrine of the * divine right* of kings." — Chambers, EncydcjKBdia, s. v.
DeipTra, mother of God, a title applied to Mary, the mother of Christ, at the Council <^ NicsBa. See Theotokos.
Deiam (from DeuSy God) properly means the be- lief in the existence of a supreme intelligent First Cause, in opposition to Atheism. It is now, however, applied to that form of infidelity which professes to believe the existence of a personal God, but denies his revelation. The word Deism is, at bottom, the same as Theism (from Ocdc, God) ; but a distinction in prac- tical use has arisen between them. Des Prades calls Theism the foith of reason, which precedes all revela- tion ; but, on the other hand, designates by Deism the faith in reason which contests revelation. In more modem times, an arbitrary distinction between the two terms mentioned has been adopted by the usage of scientific language in Germany, according to which Deism is the doctrine of Grod's relation to the world, which represents God as not only different, but also as separated from the world, therefore as only in an external relation to it; on the other hand, Theism would be the doctrine which represents God as holding an internal and real relation to the world. Kant makes the distinction between a deist and a theist as follows :' the deiti, he says, believes in a God, but the theist in a living God. *' About the middle of the 16th century the title was arrogantly assumed by those who professed to believe in a Grod, while they revised to acknowledge any revelation of his will. They set up in opposition to Christianity what they are pleased to call * natural religion,' but never agreed upon the ar- ticles of &ith which it taught, or the practical duties which it required. Deism, in effect, is a rejection of all known religions, supplying nothing in their place, but leaving the mind to doubt and darkness. But the fHends of Christianity have no reason to regret the free and unreserved discussion which their religion undergone. The cavils and objections of the de-
ists have been fidrly beard and IbBj for their opposition we sbonld not have kad mit\ vast mass of Christian evidencea as has ben by the pious and learned ; evidences wlil^ tiUi prove the truths of ChristianHy, so Qluslnts 'm trines as to be of lasting service to tbe omt rf ine religion and the best interests of nuDikiiid*r The ground taken by the En^&h deasU wai tially the naturalistic, viz. that the Gospel faiiiRf « the product of an inventiim imposed apoa 1^ by its authors.
Lord Herbert of Ch^buiy 0><>™ ^^^^ ^^ ^ has been regarded as the first deistkal writer ialf land, or at least the first who rednced Delmttt* tern, affirming the sufficiency of rsasoD aad religion, and rejecting divine revdatkn m i sary and superfluous. His system, tan^iabft Veritate and De ReGgiom Lmd, embraced tkes te articles: 1, The being of God; 2, that he is t» b « shipped ; 8, that piety and moral virtas are tbe dM parts of worship ; 4, that God wiH psrdoa ov on repentance ; and, 5, that there is a taOn itetf rewards and punislunent. See Hkrbert of €■» BURT. Hobbes (f 1680X deriving aU knowledge ^ the senses, taught a lower, but more logical fin tf Deism than Hert)ert, and one less cslmirtBi te k harm, as his system obviously subvorts rality. See Hobbes. Charles Blonnt (f lQS^prii> lished a translation of Philoeteatos's L^ ofAfAa 7)fanaus, with the same purpoee as that of Hiindsi the 4th century, vis. to contrast the charader asi l» tory of Christ disadvantageoasly with that ef A|b& nius. After his death appeared his Grade efkam (1695), explaining the '* Deists' RdU^oo.** Job Tfr land (t 1722), in his CkrisHamig not Jfysftviw (I^* asserted the capacity and supremacy of reasoo (aal»- padng the modem Rationalism [q. v.]X and ib^ i his Amyntor (1699), threw doubt apon the Cias. The theory that Christ was an orduiary followers elevated him to the imaginary ^pstr i a divine beings had been started by the esilj e^ nents of Christianity — Celsus, Por]^yry, and iibi It was revited by Woolstoh (f 1788) (q. v.), a ^ Six Discourses on the Mirages (1727>, and by Tp- dal (q. V.) in his ChrisUanify as old as Ae Cifti* (1780). T3mdal was followed by Chubb, Trm 6» pel qf Christ (1748), and other writings [see Osas] and by Morgan, The Moral PhUascfker, and <d(c works. These views were disseminated aaiaii^ tbi higher classes in England by Bolingbroke asd^i^ bury, and at a Uter period, in the form of csa^ scep^dsm, by Hume and Gibbon. Amoo^ the it- erate, Thomas Paine (q. v.) was the grett pn?>P' tor of Deism. The progress of vulgar Deiss ma^ the higher classes was arrested by Butler^ itasstsi Analogy [see Butlkr], and among the lover>i large extent, by the rise and progress of MetlM&s.