The belief that the universe was created by a supreme being that can be called God and that this can be understood through observation and reason, as opposed to blind faith in revelation or prophecy. The Bible, the Qur’an, and many other “sacred” books each have many stories that are purportedly the result of revelation and prophecy, and these stories are intended to be believed on the basis of faith. While there is evidence in favor of some stories of these scriptures, in most cases the stories either lack evidence altogether and in some cases one can even find counter-evidence that casts serious doubts upon the reliability of these stories.

Deists either believe that there are solid arguments in favor of the belief in God or have come to believe in God through their own intuition. Several notable historical figures were deists including Aristotle, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Locke, Thomas Paine, Adam Smith, Voltaire, Mark Twain, and many others.