THEISM.
The Term (§ 1). In Modern Thought (§ 4).
In Ancient Thought (§2). Relation to Scientific Reason In Medieval Thought (§ 3). (§ 5).
The terms " theist " and " theism " apparently originated as opposites of " atheist " and " atheism " in England during the seventeenth century, when " deistic " and " deism," as general terms indicating simply the belief in God, i. The had lost their reputation with the ad- Term, herents of the Church. Ralph Cudworth (q.v.), in the interest of Platonic rationalism, and Pierre Bayle (q.v.) used theism in contradistinction to atheism, but as deism was similarly used by the latter and others, a closer definition was required. Kant, who was also of the opinion that the differentiation of deist and theist originated in England, gave it precision, thus: " The deist believes that there is a God; the theist that there is a living God." Theology he held to be the knowledge of the original being, which is derived either by pure reason or by revelation. The former represents God by pure transcendental concepts, and is called transcendental theology, or by a concept of supreme intelligence derived from nature, to be called natural theology. A deist is an adherent of the first, and one who, in addition,
Theism
THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
accepts the second is a theist. More definitely, the deist concedes the rational cognizance of an original being, but denies that a closer determination is possible than the concept of a universal cause inclusive of all reality. The theist, on the other hand, asserts a closer determination of God, according to nature (the human soul), as a being who by intelligence and freedom, as originator of the cosmos, contains within himself the ground of all things. Transcendental theology gives rise to the cosmological and ontological proofs of the existence of God; natural theology, to the teleological and moral proofs. Kant did not include the idea of personality in the term theism, much less in deism, a term by which later theology distinguishes theism from other philosophies of the universe, which, beside self-consciousness and self-activity, is demanded as an attribute of God by the religious man, and makes the actual relations of person with person seem possible. Furthermore, theism regards God not merely as the creator wrho, as assumed in deism, withdrew from the world after giving it laws, but as its ruler, perhaps even changing its course. Theism may be monistic, dualistic, or even polytheistic; but dualism is very frequently noted as theistic. Although Plato made the idea of the good equivalent to reason and again to deity, which in turn from goodness creates the universe, yet his deity or nous falls short of the attributes adequate to theism, particularly in self-conscious- 2. In ness. Aristotle is often regarded as Ancient the founder of scientific and specu- Thought. lative theism, although omitting in form the main attribute of modern theism, the personality of God. God he represents as pure thinking spirit. He is unchangeable and, as absolute energy, immutable, in contrast with the absolute potency, or matter, which is able to take up into itself all forms or concepts. God is one and indivisible. The subject of his thought is the best, i.e., himself, and the content is composed of the concepts, which as universals are immanent in the things of the phenomenal universe. This thinking is the highest, best, and happiest life, and life is the energy of the spirit. It may be seen that self-consciousness and feeling are ascribed to deity, which is in effect an implication of personality. God is the prime mover in the universe, but he moves without working or constructing. His activity is wholly in thought. As the good and the object of all movement, he remains unmoved. How the forms may be both transcendent and immanent, or how being passes over into becoming, remains the unsolved difficulty, present also in most other philosophic systems, monotheism not excluded. The dualism of Aristotle was not adopted by his successors. The Christian philosophers, ancient and modern, very positively represented theism from the monistic point of view. God, the infinite and omnipotent, can not be limited even by an inactive principle, such as matter. He not only designed but created the world, according to the Fathers; and, according to Clement and Origen, creation is by an eternal act. He did not find matter ready at hand, but created it out of nothing. As spirit, according to Origen, God is active in the material
universe as the soul is in the body. His successors followed all his doctrines except the eternal creation.
A principal representative of theism was Augustine. To him God was summa essentia, and the various things created out of nothing were charged with being of different degrees. God created by a free act, not of necessity, only by virtue of his goodness. Nothing is opposed to him, 3. In not even the world, save nonentity Medieval and evil issuing from it. Matter he Thought, made and the goodness imparted to it constitutes its form and order. Hence Augustine may scarcely be called a dualist. As creative substance God is in the whole world, and creation is a continuous process by which the universe is upheld; but it is eternal only in the counsel of God. God is inconceivable, yet a long array of attributes is produced by Augustine, by no means exhaustible, to give expression to his aspirations. Some of these are, finitely at least, mutually contradictory and even exclusive; such as always working yet ever at rest, or seeking yet possessing all things. This with his sense of immanence indicates a strain of mysticism and resembles pure pantheism; yet Augustine stands fast by his transcendentalism, maintaining the beginning and ending of the world and the eternity of God alone with the souls of men and angels. Scholasticism was strongly theistic in spite of sundry pantheistic tendencies. Anselm taught that the world, as contingent existence, presupposes absolute existence which is of itself and in itself. The contingent was not made of the absolute but by it, and of nothing. The continuous presence of God is necessary to sustain the world; hence in Anselm can be shown clearly neither dualism nor deism. In the determination of deity he approximates anthropomorphism. Besides metaphysical attributes are the ethical — justice, mercy, and love. Love in man has its foundation in living faith which involves submission and an aspiration toward its object with the hope of its attainment. Albert the Great (see Albertus Magnus) followed the views of Augustine. Thomas Aquinas adhered more closely to Aristotle. The fact that the world as well as matter was created was philosophically demonstrable; the beginning of the world in time was a matter of faith. Preservation was a continuous creation. Following Aristotle, he considers God as absolute, simple form, pure actuality, unchangeable. His essence is self-knowledge, implying the knowledge of all things. Therefore as the absolute good he must will himself; he wills not to attain a good thing, but for the sake of the good, to give it from love. The divine joy is his supreme self-satisfaction. With reference to man's relation to God, apart from his continuous preservation, the highest moral goal can not be reached without divine help. The perfect happiness of man consists in the intuition of the divine being. Descartes thought that he had found more certain proofs for the existence of God than those used in mathematics. Dualism is ascribed to him either because he conceived God in contrast with the world, or he opposed exclusively against each other the two created substances, the thinking and the extended, needing