Thomas Paine Summary of Biography

Thomas Paine wrote the Age of Reason in order to express his belief in religion. Throughout his writing, Thomas Paine conveys his belief in God, but criticizes organized religion and the writings of the bible. Paine states that his own mind is his church. In the first part of the book Paine discusses the book of Revelations and the word of God. According to Paine, Revelation is something communicated directly from God. He says that a revelation may occur to one individual only, and the word is passed on by hearsay. Some examples given by Paine of hearsay are Moses’ experiences with God and the Virgin Mary giving birth without cohabitation with a male. The church has established itself by pretending that there was communication from God of special missions only communicated to certain individuals. The Christians believe that Jesus Christ and the apostles were there to convey the messages from God. Paine argues that the Christian theory is much like that of the ancient mythologists. He also states that Jesus Christ wrote nothing of himself. His history was the writing of other people. These historians have brought him out to be supernatural because of their accounts of his resurrection from the dead, ascension to heaven, and birth. These testimonies seem to be hearsay, according to Paine. It is difficult to believe that these stories are true without being a witness to the events. Paine discusses the Jews accounts that these testimonies are not true, and he gives the Jews credit on their standpoint about these testimonies. Paine argues that Jesus Christ may have been executed due to his preaching about corruptions against Jewish priests, and because crucifixion was the mode of execution during that time, it is probable that he was executed upon those words that he expressed. Paine discusses the stories of the devil appearing as a snake to be fables. Many people were taught to believe these strange stories, but Paine argues that they were made up. As discussed in the