The Age Of Reason

by Thomas Paine

Overview

The Age of Reason; Being an Investigation of True and Fabulous Theology is an influential work written by English and American political activist Thomas Paine. It follows in the tradition of eighteenth-century British deism, and challenges institutionalized religion and the legitimacy of the Bible. Originally distributed as unbound pamphlets, it was published in three parts in 1794, 1795, and 1807. It was a best-seller in the United States, where it caused a short-lived deistic revival. British audiences, however, fearing increased political radicalism as a result of the French Revolution, received it with more hostility. The Age of Reason presents common deistic arguments; for example, it highlights what Paine saw as corruption of the Christian Church and criticizes its efforts to acquire political power. Paine advocates reason in the place of revelation, leading him to reject miracles and to view the Bible as "an ordinary piece of literature rather than as a divinely inspired text". It promotes natural religion and argues for the existence of a creator-God.Most of Paine's arguments had long been available to the educated elite, but by presenting them in an engaging and irreverent style, he made deism appealing and accessible to a mass audience. The book was also inexpensive, putting it within the reach of a large number of buyers. Fearing the spread of what they viewed as potentially revolutionary ideas, the British government prosecuted printers and book-sellers who tried to publish and distribute it. Nevertheless, Paine's work inspired and guided many free thinkers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9786050452341
Publisher:	Thomas Paine
Publication date:	06/05/2016
Sold by:	StreetLib SRL
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Thomas Paine was born in Thetford, England, in 1737, the son of a staymaker. He had little schooling and worked at a number of jobs, including tax collector, a position he lost for agitating for an increase in excisemen’s pay. Persuaded by Benjamin Franklin, he emigrated to America in 1774. In 1776 he began his American Crisis series of thirteen pamphlets, and also published the incalculably influential Common Sense, which established Paine not only as a truly revolutionary thinker, but as the American Revolution’s fiercest political theorist. In 1787 Paine returned to Europe, where he became involved in revolutionary politics. In England his books were burned by the public hangman. Escaping to France, Paine took part in drafting the French constitution and voted against the king’s execution. He was imprisoned for a year and narrowly missed execution himself. In 1802 he returned to America and lived in New York State, poor, ill and largely despised for his extremism and so-called atheism (he was in fact a deist). Thomas Paine died in 1809. His body was exhumed by William Cobbett, and the remains were taken to England for a memorial burial. Unfortunately, the remains were subsequently lost.

Table of Contents

Part I.
	Title-Page to the Original Paris Edition	v
	Dedication	vii
	Editor's Introduction	1
Chapter I.	The Author's Profession of Faith	21
Chapter II.	Of Missions and Revelations	23
Chapter III.	Concerning the Character of Jesus Christ, and His History	26
Chapter IV.	Of the Bases of Christianity	28
Chapter V.	Examination in Detail of the Preceding Bases	30
Chapter VI.	Of the True Theology	31
Chapter VII.	Examination of the Old Testament	32
Chapter VIII.	Of the New Testament	38
Chapter IX.	In What the True Revelation Consists	45
Chapter X.	Concerning God, and the Lights Cast on his Existence and Attributes by the Bible	47
Chapter XI.	Of the Theology of the Christians; and the True Theology	50
Chapter XII.	The Effects of Christianism on Education. Proposed Reforms	55
Chapter XIII.	Comparison of Christianism with the Religious Ideas Inspired by Nature	62
Chapter XIV.	System of the Universe	68
Chapter XV.	Advantages of the Existence of Many Worlds in Each Solar System	72
Chapter XVI.	Application of the Preceding to the System of the Christians	73
Chapter XVII.	Of the Means Employed in All Time, and Almost Universally, to Deceive the People	75
	Recapitulation	83
Part II.
	Preface	85
Chapter I.	The Old Testament	89
Chapter II.	The New Testament	152
Chapter III.	Conclusion	183
	Letters Concerning "The Age of Reason"	196