University of North Carolina sociologists Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton in 2005 published a massive study of the religious beliefs of teenagers. Their conclusion was that most of these teenagers adhered to a variation of Deism called moralistic therapeutic deism (MTD). This form of deism is certainly not limited to youth; it is, I suspect, very much like that of their parents and many adults today. Here are the tents of MTD:

1. A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth.
2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most religions.
3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.
5. Good people go to heaven when they die.

George Barna’s worldview inventory in 2021 found MTD to be America’s most popular worldview with almost 40% of Americans drawing heavily on that worldview. Although three out of four people (74%) who lean substantially on MTD for life guidance consider themselves to be Christians, numerous beliefs held by MTD-reliant adults conflict with biblical teaching. For instance, among those whose lives are most heavily influenced by MTD:

95% do not consider success in life to be described as consistent obedience to God
92% do not believe that the wealth they have has been given to them by God to manage for His purposes
91% do not believe that people are born into sin and need to be saved by Jesus Christ
88% say they get their primary moral guidance from various sources other than the Bible
87% do not believe that the ultimate purpose of human life is to know, love, and serve God with all of their heart, mind, strength, and soul
76% contend that good people earn a place in Heaven through their good behavior
75% do not believe that God is the basis of all truth
74% believe in karma
73% say that having some type of religious faith is more important than which faith is embraced
71% do not believe that the Bible is the true and reliable communication from God

God in this worldview makes no demand on his creation to be holy, righteous, or even very good. Deism is still alive and well with MTD. God is a cosmic therapist and divine butler, ready to help out when needed. He exists but really isn’t a part of our lives. We are supposed to be “good people,” but each person must find what’s right for him or her. Good people will go to heaven, and we shouldn’t be stifled by organized religion where somebody tells us what we should do or what we should believe. MTD is a me-centered narcissistic message about a distant, therapeutic god who wants us to be good and happy. Anericans have bought into MTD, not because they have misunderstood what the church has taught them, but precisely because it is tragically what their church has often taught them.