The word
de-us is the root of
deity, and thereby of
deism,
pandeism, and
polydeism, all of which are theories in which any divine figure is
absent from intervening in human affairs. This curious circumstance originates from the use of the word "deism" in the 17th and 18th centuries as a contrast to the prevailing "
theism", belief in an actively intervening God: By 1888, it was written in the
Encyclopaedia Britannica: "Although
deus and
theos are equivalent, deism has come to be distinguished from theism. The former word first appeared in the 16th century, when it was used to designate antitrinitarian opinions. In the 17th century it came to be applied to the view that the light of nature is the only light in which man can know God, no special revelation having been given to the human race." Followers of these theories, and occasionally followers of
pantheism, may sometimes refer to God as "Deus" or "the Deus" to make clear that the entity being discussed is not a theistic "God".
Arthur C. Clarke picks up this usage in his novel
3001: The Final Odyssey.
William Blake said of the Deists that they worship "the Deus of the Heathen, The God of This World, & the Goddess Nature, Mystery, Babylon the Great, The Druid Dragon & hidden Harlot". In
Cartesian philosophy, the phrase
deus deceptor is sometimes used to discuss the possibility of an evil God that seeks to deceive us. This character is related to a
skeptical argument as to how much we can really know if an
evil demon were attempting to thwart our knowledge. Another is the
deus otiosus ('idle god'), which is a creator god who largely retires from the world and is no longer involved in its daily operation. A similar concept is that of the
deus absconditus ('hidden god') of
Thomas Aquinas. Both refer to a deity whose existence is not readily knowable by humans through either contemplation or examination of divine actions. The concept of
deus otiosus often suggests a god who has grown weary from involvement in this world and who has been replaced by younger, more active gods, whereas
deus absconditus suggests a god who has consciously left this world to hide elsewhere. ==Latin phrases with
deus==