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The following is my educated guess. God purposefully created the universe with the Big Bang. The main goal of the Big Bang was and is to create beings who will be fit eternal companions for God. God sometimes secretly tinkers with the universe to get the results that God wants, such as getting mortal humans to grow spiritually/become wiser.
The universe is no more an ant farm than a mother’s womb is. God is developing moral creatures in the universe for life after their metaphorical birth, which will eventually be Heaven. When we die in this universe, we are born in some other realm, hopefully Heaven. Metaphorically speaking, we have left our mother’s womb for life beyond that womb. Heavenly life is being completely sane, good, and happy forever with God and all other perfected beings.
God wants us to think for ourselves and improve spiritually. If God made God’s existence too obvious or not obvious enough, we would either be like robots who are instantly programmed with all the answers to the test of life or like stupid babies who never learned how to think and learn for themselves. God wants us to forever cherish wisdom and other spiritual gifts. What is earned tends to be cherished more than what is given.
To be a Deist, one just has to base all of one’s beliefs on reason and then conclude that God probably exists. Some Deists believe that there are intelligent aliens, and others don’t. I believe that there are countless intelligent species on countless planets in countless galaxies. The more, the merrier!
Why do people like you and me feel that there is Someone watching over us at times and providing guidance? 1) Probably because there is, 2) extreme coincidences sometimes happen, and 3) everything that is said or written that is true, good, and profound comes from God–or so I believe and hope. It is how God often instructs and otherwise communicates with us, this side of death.
By the way, I wrote a book called “Extreme Coincidences”, which is about the extreme coincidences in my life. This book has not been published, but I will give you a free copy if you ask me for one by emailing me at jaysonx1776.com. An extreme coincidence is a coincidence that is probably a covert miracle purposefully done by God.
Different Deists have different beliefs and practices regarding prayer. Some like praying and do it often, others hate it and don’t do it at all, and others are somewhere in between. I am somewhere in between.
Often, I talk with God when I am alone in my car, just to have someone perfect to talk to or to have a free psychotherapist. Of course, if God talks back to me, it is not with words that I hear with my ears. Maybe it is with emotions and thoughts. Yet, even if God does not talk back to me, such talking seems to help me. So I will keep doing it anyway.
Sometimes, I talk to God just to thank God. I think that this is a good practice for me because it cultivates thankful thoughts and a thankful attitude within me. Thankful people are happier and more pleasant to be with than unthankful people.
Occasionally, I will ask God for something. When I ask God for something, I don’t expect a miracle. I just hope for one. Maybe God intervenes in the natural working of the universe, or maybe God doesn’t. If God does, God probably does so in a covert way so that, even if God does a miracle, it is debatable whether it was an extreme coincidence or not.
I think that asking for God’s help can be beneficial as the final act of a series of wise actions. Here is an example. I try to eat right and exercise so that I will have a long and happy life, but I am still a little scared of dying. I think that almost all humans are at least a little scared of dying because we know that we will die someday but are programmed by Nature to try to survive. Sometimes when I lay facedown in bed, which is often how I most easily fall asleep, I can feel my heart beating in my chest; and this reminds me that someday that heart will stop beating and I will die. Often, that is when I feel the fear. To help me sleep in many of those instances, I ask God to help me somehow.
Maybe God helps me because of my prayer, or maybe God doesn’t. I’m not sure. What I am sure of is that I have done everything that I reasonably can to live a good life and that I am hoping and trusting in God to help me have the best future that I can have.
I have another example of when I did the best that I could and then asked God to help as the final act of a series of wise actions (or at least the wisest actions that I knew how to make). However, this example is extremely personal, so I won’t describe it in detail. I just want to mention that this horrible crisis—a crisis far worse than most other people will ever have to face—worked out surprisingly well, seemingly miraculously well. Perhaps God was moved by my prayer to help me. If so, I thank God with all my being.
Did God just create the Earth and it’s inhabitants and then move on? Are we just a huge ant farm made for his amusement? Why is it that we sometimes feel close to God if he isn’t present? Do Deists belive there are other forms of intelligent life in the Universe? Why do we feel that there is someone watching ofer us at times and providing guidance? Dave
I just recently purchased the book Deism from Amazon by Bob Johnson. I didn’t see addressed the topic of prayer. Would you please tell me if prayer is part of Deism. Thank you, Dave
As I recall, Stephen Hawking wrote in “The Grand Design” that everything exists because everything had to exist. There are countless universes, and everything that can exist exists in at least one of those universes. In my own book, “Expanded Deism”, which you can read for free at btl201.wixsite.com/expandeddeism, I speculate that God evolved from inanimate stuff and then purposefully created the universe. I hope that I have adequately answered your question. As you know, “Why is there something rather than nothing?” might be the most difficult question to answer. Please let me know if you find a “layperson-friendly” book that answers it.
Hello John, I hope that this message finds you well. I’m sorry that it took me years to reply to you, but I haven’t done much with my blog in years. Unfortunately, I do not know of such a book. That might be the greatest mystery ever. Even The Divine might not know the answer to it, and I strongly doubt that any human knows.
Hi John, I’m sorry to say that I don’t. I guess that The Divine just got lucky to have existed and we got lucky that The Divine created us.
Jayson, Hi. John Draper here. Do you know any layperson-friendly books on why is there something rather than nothing?