According to the book The Modern Heritage, deists “believed that atheism was an error born of despair but that the authoritarian structure of the Catholic Church and the rigidity and intolerance of its doctrines were even more deplorable. ”
Vastavalt raamatule The Modern Heritage uskusid deistid, et „ateism on eksitus, mis on sündinud meeleheitest, kuid veelgi hullem on katoliku kiriku autoritaarne struktuur ning selle doktriinide julmus ja sallimatus ”.