May I also add that at that time, (pre-Darwin, remember) being a Deist was about as close as you could get to being godless without being lynched.blue said:
And also, being pre-Darwin, believing in some kind of deity made rational sense. Go back a little further, and Zeus throwing thunderbolts made sense as well. (Not to everyone though, Democritus and Epicurus had some wacky ideas that turned out to be pretty impressive.)
Of course, these days we all (Christians and Muslims) included, laugh at those primitive societies who thought that Zeus was the cause of thunder and lightning. I find it odd that the irony is rarely pointed out.
