What belief do deists hold about the universe? a. god had created a chaotic universe that could only be understood through gospel. b. god had created a mechanistic universe that could only be understood through the bible. c. god had created a rational universe that could only be understood through reason. d. god had created a christian universe that could only be understood through the clergy's sermons.

Explanation:

Deism and rational religion were popular approaches to religion by philosophical thinkers during the Enlightenment.  John Locke was one of the early proponents of this sort of approach to thinking about God.  Deists (or we could say "God-ists") believed in God, but as a rather remote Being who had created the universe by his power and embedded in it natural laws that allowed it to run on its own from there.  Some have compared it to viewing God as the "great watchmaker" who designed the universe as a perpetual watch or clock that could run on from there without needing his personal intervention in daily affairs of earthly life.  Observing the universe and studying it with reasoned analysis would allow us to understand its functioning.