The Age of Reason

by Thomas Paine

Overview

Thomas Paine, defender of freedom, independence, and rational common sense during America's turbulent revolutionary period, offers insights into religion which ring sharply true more than two centuries later. This unabridged edition of The Age of Reason sets forth Paine's provocative observations on the place of religion in society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780879752736
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	01/01/1984
Series:	Great Books in Philosophy
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	194
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.44(d)

About the Author

THOMAS PAINE was born in Thetford, England, on January 29, 1737. He was forced to leave school early to enter his father's trade of stay-making; but Paine rejected this and, following unsatisfying attempts at several other professions, he emigrated to the American colonies, arriving in Philadelphia in November 1774. On Benjamin Franklin's recommendation, Paine was hired for six months as managing editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine, to which he contributed various poems and essays.

During this time of growing dissent within the colonies, Paine first called for a reconciliation with England; however, after the battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775, he became a tireless propagandist for separation and, in January 1776, published his pamphlet Common Sense. This work, which was first published anonymously, and his American Crisis exercised a profound influ-ence on public opinion and morale.

Following the War of Independence Paine returned to England where he was welcomed as a celebrity; the accolades soon ceased, however, with the publication of the Rights of Man (1791), a defense of the French Revolution meant to be a reply to Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France. Forced to leave England due to the public outcry his book had occasioned, Paine traveled to France, where he was granted citizenship. However, after he spoke out in defense of the deposed king Louis XVI, Paine was im-prisoned in 1793 and nearly executed. While in prison, Paine began composing his statement of religious belief, The Age of Reason. Although pilloried as a declaration of atheism, The Age of Reason actually espoused deism: Paine rejected the inerrancy of the Bible and disputed revelation. The God who had created the universe had given humankind the gift of reason which it would apply to the management of its own affairs and the discovery of the physical universe.

Paine returned to the United States in 1802; while welcomed by President Thomas Jefferson, the former champion of liberty was ostracized by many as that "outrageous blasphemer." Never-theless, the influence of The Age of Reason began to grow as the nineteenth century progressed and freethought challenged out-dated religious beliefs.

Thomas Paine died in New York City on June 8, 1809.

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

Editorial Reviews

There are many editions of The Age of Reason available for students and modern readers. Kerry Walters’ Broadview Edition is the best. It combines an astute introduction with up-to-the-moment bibliographic material. Walters also illuminates crucial aspects of the book and its arguments with hard-to-find contemporary documents that put Paine’s work in an international context.” — Bruce Kuklick, University of Pennsylvania

“Kerry Walters’ new edition of Thomas Paine’s Age of Reason, along with its collection of pre- and post-publication material, is an invaluable addition to the Paine library. Most impressive is Walters’s eloquent and lucid introduction, which concisely places Paine’s Deism in the greater context of the British and French Enlightenment. It is an indispensable edition for undergraduate and graduate students studying history, philosophy, the history of religion, and the psychology of social ideas.” — Jack Fruchtman Jr., Towson University

From the Publisher

"Kerry Walters' new edition of Thomas Paine's Age of Reason, along with its collection of pre- and post-publication material, is an invaluable addition to the Paine library. Most impressive is Walters's eloquent and lucid introduction, which concisely places Paine's Deism in the greater context of the British and French Enlightenment. It is an indispensable edition for undergraduate and graduate students studying history, philosophy, the history of religion, and the psychology of social ideas."

Jack Fruchtman Jr. Towson University

"There are many editions of The Age of Reason available for students and modern readers. Kerry Walters' Broadview Edition is the best. It combines an astute introduction with up-to-the-moment bibliographic material. Walters also illuminates crucial aspects of the book and its arguments with hard-to-find contemporary documents that put Paine's work in an international context."

Bruce Kuklick University of Pennsylvania