ABSTRACT
Arguments for the existence of God play an important role in the systematic philosophies of the seventeenth century. Many thinkers from this period seek to show both that their philosophical positions harmonize with the new science of mechanism and that this new science is consistent with the existence of the Judeo-Christian God. These goals, at times, necessitate a partial reconstrual of God’s nature and his role in the universe. Notably, in the thought of Descartes, Locke, and Leibniz, God features as the designer, conservator, and ruler of the mechanistic world that we see and of the moral ideals toward which we must strive.
