After the phenomenal pamphlet Common Sense, revolutionary thinker Thomas Paine used his careful reasoning to examine religion rather than politics in the book The Age of Reason. He believed that a revolution in the system of religion was soon to follow the previous revolution in the system of government that he had written about in Common Sense (22), which explains why he decided to write The Age of Reason. Although Paine was very clear in the introduction to his book that he didn’t want to tread on anyone’s beliefs and was merely stating his own, The Age of Reason was seen as a major threat to organized religion because of its criticism and ridicule of Christianity. By advocating deism and pointing out the absurdity (as he called it) of the mythology behind Christian religion, Paine became the target for the theological community’s wrath. The irony of this, however, is that Paine had previously used The Bible as part of his argument in Common Sense, and was now attacking every word of it.
Regarding the British rule in the colonies, Paine wrote “That the Almighty hath here entered his protest against monarchical government is true, or the scripture is false”, implying that he believed the word of the Bible to be the truth. Two conclusions come to mind regarding this contradiction. Either Paine’s religious views changed dramatically from the time he wrote Common Sense to the era of The Age of Reason, or he had previously used the Bible to garner support for his writing, because he knew that his target audience was predominantly religious. In other words, he used the Bible as a marketing tool to help promote his ideas through the publication of Common Sense. His true feelings about religion shine through in The Age of Reason, and for this he was ostracized to the point where only six people were in attendance at his funeral.
Conway, Moncure D. "The Life of Thomas Paine." Volume 2, pages 417-418. Web. 7 Oct July 2009.
Smith, Jay E. "THOMAS PAINE AND THE AGE OF REASON'S ATTACK ON THE BIBLE." Historian 58.4 (1996): 745. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 7 Oct. 2009
Intriguing argument. True, his religious views could have changed. He wrote Common Sense in 1776 and wrote the Age of Reason in 1794, so that is an 18 year gap in between his writings. Also, in the first paragraph of Part I: Chapter I, he states that he waited until a 'more advanced period of life' to express his thoughts on religion. This could give us a clue as to if his views had changed during his life. Similarly, I think that is a more probable answer than the theory that he used the bible as a marketing tool in Common Sense. The reason I come to that conclusion is because in the same chapter he states that 'When a man has so far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind, as to subscribe his professional belief to things he does not believe, he has prepared himself for the commission of every other crime'. Which I interpreted as he though feels that someone should not embrace something (i.e. the bible) they do not believe in. I could be wrong though. I am curious to see if Prof. O has any thoughts on this.
ReplyDeletePaine's discussions in The Age of Reason was very controverial. It is no wonder why he would be banished by the public eye. The predominant audience was religious and He would view the Bible as an ordinary piece of literature rather than as a divinely inspired text.
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