false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180370672m/1031803.jpg 1031803 41 Thomas Paine who was a dynamic philosophical presence in the American Revolution of 1776 wrote his last book in 1795 on an investigation and commentary of organized religion with a focus on Christianity. Paine said that his "religious duties" included doing justice, loving benevolence, and attempting to make others happy. He called himself a deist which is a person who believes in the existence of a God based on the evidence of reason and nature but not on supernatural revelation. In this book he outlines deism as a rational religious belief and offers an analysis of the Bible based on textual content. He makes comparisons of the internal arguments of the Old and New Testaments by explaining, for example, inconsistencies of the biographic accounts in the four gospels. Paine suggests that since they were written separate of each other their basis is no better than hearsay. Because the United States convicted Paine of seditious libel in 1792, he escaped to France where he was selected to be a member of its National Convention. But there he conflicted with Robespierre, and while awaiting his arrest he wrote the first part of "The Age of Reason." Afterwards he was confined in Luxembourg and wrote the second half of the book. The work was published in 1795 and serves as a criticism of established religion from the point of view of the 18th century deists. Paine's clear and concise understanding of the development of the Christian religion from its pagan origins is especially significant when the reader examines the interconnecting references and implications of superstition and fallacy that are still involved in any ceremonial aspect. And, finally, Thomas Paine explains the answer to any confrontation best of all: "The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is Reason." 1018077 1794 The Age of Reason total:417|5:169|4:140|3:89|2:17|1:2| 417 1708 698 53 5 4 false false Sun Jun 21 09:42:30 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 12 20:43:13 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 21 09:42:30 -0700 2009 pious men, like their predecessors, contend and wrangle, and
understand the Bible; each understands it differently, but each
understands it be...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Feb 15 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 01 11:47:34 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 01 11:58:24 -0800 2009 more...]]> 1 1 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 20 07:43:05 -0700 2007 Thu Oct 18 13:21:36 -0700 2007 4 1 false false Mon May 19 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 10 08:28:55 -0700 2008 Tue May 20 08:09:10 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1995 Sat Dec 08 13:36:29 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 08 14:00:28 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Jan 23 13:30:08 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 26 09:36:50 -0800 2009 the shackles of religious slavery. Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and many others were Deists who believed the human mind needn't suffer from the dogma of the day nor...more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Feb 22 06:33:35 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 23 06:48:38 -0800 2008
"It is a contradiction in terms and ideas to call anything a revelation that comes to us at second hand, either verbally or in writing. Revelation is necessarily ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Sep 27 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 20 16:42:17 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 20 16:46:08 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Sun Jul 05 13:07:15 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 12:47:41 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jul 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 18 08:48:27 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 08 18:35:20 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Feb 15 06:39:55 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 16 10:24:04 -0800 2009
Be careful about the edition you pick; mine is a very crappy reprint.]]> 5 0 false false Wed May 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 06:50:10 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 06:54:50 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Dec 09 07:44:03 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 09 07:45:04 -0800 2008 5 1 false false Sun Feb 15 09:06:19 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 15 09:08:14 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 07 14:52:42 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 08 11:57:19 -0800 2008 1 4 0 false false Fri Mar 13 14:32:05 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 13 14:33:06 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Jun 12 21:53:47 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 12 21:54:51 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Oct 13 11:01:42 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 13 11:02:31 -0700 2009 5 1 false false Tue May 13 16:28:07 -0700 2008 Tue May 13 17:55:41 -0700 2008
Paine explains in the simplest manner the ideas of a deist.
...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jun 29 12:33:42 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 29 12:36:05 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1031803