A philosophical and theological term referring to belief in a creator who does not intervene in the universe after creation.
Deism holds that God does not intervene in the world after creating it.
無神論 (atheism) denies the existence of any deity, whereas 理神論 accepts a creator but rejects revelation and ongoing divine intervention.
Compound of 理 (reason, principle), 神 (god), and 論 (theory, discourse). Likely a Meiji-era calque from Western philosophical terminology.