Thomas Paine: Life and Religion.
I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman Church, by the Greek Church, by the Turkish Church, by the Protestant Church, nor by any Church that I know of. My own mind is my own Church (Age of Reason, Pg.2).
Born in Thetford, England, Thomas Paine (1707-1809) was a crucial figure in the Age of Enlightenment. He was an important figure in politics and in literature. He wrote great novels such as the age of reason, rights of man, common sense, etc. some of which changed the course of history and some paved the way of thinking about god and religion in a different aspect. In the religiously conservative and politically unstable society that he lived in, Thomas Paine, boldly expressed …show more content…
It is written quite straight-forward attacking and questioning every religion and their beliefs directly. In the all conservative Christian society that he lived in, this was nothing short of blasphemy. He states himself as a deist, and he believes in deism. “I believe in one god and no more; I hope for happiness beyond this life” says Thomas Paine on the first page of chapter 1 (Age of Reason, pg.1). He clearly states that he doesn’t believe in any religion and their stories of creation. He believes that, as told by Tubbs, “while the God is capable of revelation, if that revelation is given to one or only a few people only, then others are not obliged to accept it”. He also was not on the favor of atheism. In fact, he thinks it is only half rational. He believes that we do not have all the knowledge of our existence or how and why we exist, so we cannot rule out the possibility of god or deity and this is their creation. He thought that science is the way to understand the ways of the universe but it is incomplete. “It is from the study of the true theology that all our knowledge of science is derived; and it is from that knowledge that all the arts have originated.”(Age of Reason, pg. 76). He does not like the man-made stories about god like in Christianity of Virgin Birth and the Resurrection and compares it to Greek mythology pointing out that it is not much different from
I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman Church, by the Greek Church, by the Turkish Church, by the Protestant Church, nor by any Church that I know of. My own mind is my own Church (Age of Reason, Pg.2).
Born in Thetford, England, Thomas Paine (1707-1809) was a crucial figure in the Age of Enlightenment. He was an important figure in politics and in literature. He wrote great novels such as the age of reason, rights of man, common sense, etc. some of which changed the course of history and some paved the way of thinking about god and religion in a different aspect. In the religiously conservative and politically unstable society that he lived in, Thomas Paine, boldly expressed …show more content…
It is written quite straight-forward attacking and questioning every religion and their beliefs directly. In the all conservative Christian society that he lived in, this was nothing short of blasphemy. He states himself as a deist, and he believes in deism. “I believe in one god and no more; I hope for happiness beyond this life” says Thomas Paine on the first page of chapter 1 (Age of Reason, pg.1). He clearly states that he doesn’t believe in any religion and their stories of creation. He believes that, as told by Tubbs, “while the God is capable of revelation, if that revelation is given to one or only a few people only, then others are not obliged to accept it”. He also was not on the favor of atheism. In fact, he thinks it is only half rational. He believes that we do not have all the knowledge of our existence or how and why we exist, so we cannot rule out the possibility of god or deity and this is their creation. He thought that science is the way to understand the ways of the universe but it is incomplete. “It is from the study of the true theology that all our knowledge of science is derived; and it is from that knowledge that all the arts have originated.”(Age of Reason, pg. 76). He does not like the man-made stories about god like in Christianity of Virgin Birth and the Resurrection and compares it to Greek mythology pointing out that it is not much different from