Deism, Classical Theism, and Existential Inertia
The deist argument that God created the world but doesn’t sustain it is mistaken. For things to exist, God must do both.
The philosophical view called “classical theism” affirms the existence of God as the cause of everything that exists. It holds that everything in the world — cats, dogs, and ourselves included — exist only because of God. But in classical theism, God not only brings things into existence but also sustains their existence at every passing moment.
Consider the following example. Pat Metheny playing on the guitar not only starts the performance of a song but also keeps it going and guides it to its finale for as long as he continues playing. If he were to stop playing, the song would cease. So also with God: He not only begins the existence of things but also maintains it through time. This means that the continued existence of the world through time is a result of God’s constant “preoccupation” with sustaining his act of creation.
Writing in Arc, Gunther Laird recently proposed deism as an alternative to classical theism. Deism sees God as the cause of the world but that’s basically it — after bringing it into existence God doesn’t involve himself much at all. God explains why there is a universe in the first place…
