Answer:
Deism is an old and dead view of God that originated during the 1700's. It was derived from Christianity, but is much more of a heretical/skeptical view. It was an agnostic view that said yes there was a God , in referrence to the Christian God, but that he did nothing in the world. Famouse followers of this belief include Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Other sources say John Locke was a deist, but if you look at his doctrines and writings you will find that is was quite the opposite. In conclusion deism is derived from Christianity, but it is dead and is not Biblical.
Answer
Deism is the belief in a "secular" God, what Thomas Jefferson called "Nature's God". This God was generally perceived as being a creator but not a sustainer (by critics, often called referred to as the "absentee landlord"), the basic idea being that while God (whatever god) may have created the natural laws (everything from physics to ethics) and then left the world/universe to sort itself out. It definitely has many agnostic overtones, but was not agnosticism per-say.
It actually comes stems from the Renaissance and may have been the result of a growing trend of scepticsm, agnosticism and atheism as the arts and sciences began to flourish, but in a time where the Church was in controll of everything. You couldn't state out-right that you didn't believe in the Christian God, or believe in the Church's doctrines, so they used deism as a sort of loophole to stave off some of the attacks.
Deism is certainly not biblical, however, there are still many deists, and in its close ties to agnosticism, a lot of fluctuation by its "followers"
Deism is not dead!
There are plenty of deists left and there numbers are growing faster than any other religion.