Let's make people's heads explode. Is it possible to be any part deist if you are a determinist?
No… because the most important verses in the entire bible, on the topic of God's metaphysical relationship to his creation, are
Hebrews 1:3, Acts 17:28, and Colossians 1:17.
Hebrews 1:2-3
in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also
he created the world.
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and
he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
Colossians 1:16-17
For
by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—
all things were created through him and for him.
And
he is before all things, and in him all things consist/hold together.
Acts 17:24-28
The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, for “‘
In him we live and move and have our being’;
Hebrews 1:3 says that God, not only created the world and the universe, but that he constantly upholds the universe by his power. So God upholds every atom of the universe by his power and the verse is always true moment by moment by moment. God is exerting power and upholding the things that he created, and if you stop to think about it, this must be the case because whatever he creates is going to be less than him, less than eternal, less than self powered so it's going to be reliant upon him. So he must provide the sustaining power by which things, not just come into existence, but also are sustained in their existence.
Acts 17 says "in God we live and move and have our being". It's also mentioned in the context of creation. It says that “God who created the world... and "in God we live and move and have our being" so even us as creatures;
living (making choices),
moving (making choices taking actions)
and
having our being in God.
The verse is always true that we live and move and have our being in God!
Colossians 1:17 says “In God all things consist/hold together”! So all three verses are saying the exact same thing that God not only created all things but continuously upholds them.
My point here is that these provide the foundation for the Biblical world view of God's absolute power over all things, and absolute control over all things, and our denial of any part of Deism and Dualism!
I bring up these verses, instead of just launching into the standard Calvinistic proof texts such as "God works all things" or "God hardens hearts", because you have to have the right foundations in place.
The three verses I quoted are FOUNDATIONAL… they are not proof texts! You can't look at those and say "you know you're reading your Calvinism into that". It's just plain, God upholds the universe, moment-by-moment-by-moment, at all times! There is no Calvinistic lens there! There is just
Foundation, and I build the rest of my world view, and read other proof texts, like "God works all things" (Eph1:11), in light of that foundation.
So my questions for the Deist position is...
How can “free will” be true in light of the verses I just quoted?
How can you claim to be free from the God who upholds your existence at all times?
How can you claim to be free from the very power upon which you depend for your existence?
…