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Summary: Best American book ever on religion
Review: Thomas Paine was one of the intellectual leaders of the American Revolution. Unfortunately, he is neglected in U.S. education today because of his enlightened views. His books "The Age Of Reason" and "The Rights Of Man" should be required reading for all students. For me personally, this is one of the ten most influential books I have read.
This book is a superbly written, logical, clear analysis of revealed religion in general and the Judeo-Christian mindset in particular. As Paine points out, revealed religion is really second-hand religion for everyone but the original so-called prophets or inspired writers who received the message. For everyone else, their faith is really in the veracity and sanity of the people who claim to have had certain revelations. Paine points to the historical and scientific mistakes and the self-contradictory passages in the bible. He also points to the moral flaw in the whole concept of the so-called "chosen people", as well as to many other moral deficiencies in the biblical law. Chief among them is the idea that the creator of the universe would command a nomadic tribe to wipe out the original inhabitants of Canaan so they could worship him there.
Paine points out that the best way to understand the creator is to study the universe he has created. His morality is based on common sense ideas which are accepted today in every advanced society. There is a creator, an immortal soul, and punishment and reward in the afterlife. It is based on philosophical arguments.
Paine was not just a writer. He was a revolutionary soldier and a very courageous champion of liberty and moderation both in America and France. In other words, he put his life on the line for his beliefs, as much as any religious person.
If you want to read the views of a true hero of enlightenment and human progress, buy this book! Give it to your children to read, because they certainly won't get it in school. It will not only teach them the truth about so-called revealed religion, it will teach them how to think and write clearly on a controversial topic.
For those who are still struggling with religious belief, read this book! It may help you think more clearly about the whole subject.
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Summary: The best book I have read on the subject of religion
Review: Thomas Paine's book against Christianity is a classic to Free-thinkers for its revolutionary courage and thought. I loved it for the honest, simple, eloquent language Paine brought to the work, and the countless errors and absurdities he found both in the Bible and the Church orthodoxy. The author gave the reader his opinions on religion, but his opinions consisted of far more than simple statements about what he thought of the doctrines of the Church. He gave his reasoning behind his denial of the virgin birth and mosaic account, and each reasoning is a blow to the religion's reasonable contentions. His belief in Deism and therefore a belief in God may be categorized as showing faith, but many do not realize the politics attached to the work. He wanted to take power away from the Church hierarchy while leading others from reactionary athiesm (believing in no God because of the belief was corrupted by the Church). Also, athiesm was not a rational conclusion during this time period because Newtonian science showed an intelligent system to the universe. The best recommendation for this book comes from those who did not give it 5 stars. They obviously disagree with the book's conclusions in some way. The atheist or agnostic cannot get over the fact that he accepted a God who revealed himself through science. The Christian says he missed the "true meaning" of the religion. They both remain silent about the evidence Paine brings against the Bible because they know he is correct, and so do I.
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Summary: A defense of deism and a polemic against theism
Review: Thomas Paine, like others among our nation's founders (Ethan Allen, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Joel Barlow), considered himself a deist, a term that encompasses a wide range of beliefs but is principally based on "religious rationalism": that, initially created by a benevolent God, the universe operates on rational rather than supernatural principles. Paine (and Allen), however, departed from the cautiously nuanced approach to religious issues adopted by his peers and vociferously rejected Judeo-Christian tenets and scriptures. In "The Age of Reason," Paine outlines his objections to theism and his belief in deism, and he dissects the inconsistencies in both the Old and New Testaments.Paine published the book in two parts: the first he hurriedly finished in January 1794 when he realized he would be arrested during the French Revolution (passages were in fact written from the Luxembourg Palace in Paris, where he was imprisoned). The second part was written the following year, and he responds to the critics of the first part with a no-holds-barred attack on the veracity of the Bible. Paine presents his basic belief that "it is only in the creation that all our ideas and conceptions of a word of God can unite," and later in the book he says that "the creation is the bible of the deist." To Paine, the Bible is the word of man, not the Word of God, and he confronts many of the literalist beliefs proffered by the clergy and worshippers in his day. Many of his arguments, once shocking and blasphemous, are now taken for granted. For instance, he analyzes internal evidence in the books allegedly written by Moses, Joshua, and Samuel to show that it's impossible for Moses, Joshua, and Samuel to have written them--a view that most Christians and nearly all biblical scholars acknowledge today. In other ways, he is way ahead of his time, pondering the minuteness of our world in the immensity of the universe, speculating that other planets around other stars may well hold other intelligent species, and mocking the resulting conclusion that "the Son of God . . . would have nothing else to do than to travel from world to world, in an endless succession of death." Paine believes that God made a complex multi-world universe (rather than a single world) so that it would serve as a textbook for humankind: "As therefore the Creator made nothing in vain, so also must it be believed that he organized the structure of the universe in the most advantageous manner for the benefit of man." It is through this "revelation" of nature that believers can know God: "The principles of science lead to this knowledge; for the creator of man is the creator of science, and it is through that medium that man can see God, as it were, face to face." Even if one disagrees with Paine (and many obviously do),"The Age of Reason" is an essential book both historically and philosophically. It should be read whether you hope to provide support for your own beliefs or to discover what non-Christians thought two centuries ago. It's inevitable that every reader will approach this book with an agenda, but even Christians should wrestle with Paine's arguments--since many of them are still heard today.
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Summary: God through Reason
Review: Tom Paine's excellent thought provoking book, The Age of Reason, did much to help me clear my mind of superstition and develope a much more realistic idea of the Creator. Paine shows there is a profound difference between "revealed" religion and God. He points out that all the different "revealed" religions have their own various "holy" books and all claim the other "revealed" religions and "holy" books are false. Deism is offered as an alternative to both "revealed" religion and atheism. Deism is a reason-friendly spiritual philosophy/religion that teaches belief in God based on reason and nature, not on any of the books written by men. It's a revolution in religion! It's spiritual, not dogmatic! Paine makes clear that if we want a better world WE NEED TO DO IT! We can't pray and dictate to God what needs to be done. We need to use our God-given reason and correct the problems we all face. The Age of Reason also makes clear that the best way to serve God is to serve our fellow human beings. Being kind to others is key to Deism. I'm very grateful to Tom Paine for having the courage to write this wonderful book. It has really helped change my life for the better. I'm now very active in the World Union of Deists and feel very postive about it!
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Summary: Must read.
Review: When you suspect that religion may not be as divinely inspired as you once truly believed, read this book. It's short and sweet. Paine's infectious rationalism, and his analysis and critique of organized religion (focusing on the Bible) are invaluable. Beware, depending on your state of mind, his arguments will create introspection or contempt. Don't waste your time if your mind is already made up. Paine (whose "religious duties consist[ed] in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow creatures happy") was a popular proponent of and propagandist for the abolition of slavery, equal human rights, and the hopeful American Revolution. Today, propaganda is spewed from wealthy conglomerate corporations (whose societal duties consist of inculcating "necessary illusions" and making a profit). After digesting AoR, buy/rent/check-out the documentary Manufacturing Consent to learn how you're being systematically duped by today's media. It goes beyond the popular anecdotal evidence to prove its thesis. This is only the beginning of stripping away the many layers of indoctrination, and deciding for yourself what is true.
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Summary: An Unexpected Surprise!
Review: You have got to read this book. It is one of a kind. Many books have been written about the bible. This one, however, can be called the Genesis for bible criticism. Tom Paine's book is highly respectful with its subject, not rude in any sense. In fact, it simply lays out one man's opinion of a body of work that never made sense to him. It is a two part book, Age of Reason I and Age of Reason II. The first part was written without the aid of a bible. He refuted it strictly by memory! In part II he had access to the "Good Book" and successfully destablized its foundation. This is why his writing is so interesting. Paine makes a convincing argument that the bible cannot be a legitimate authority to live by. Overall, the book is well constructed and easily accessible. If anyone has read the Old or New Testament and has not read Tom Paine's Age of Reason, they have only got half the story. Buy this book. Read it. Talk about it with other bible readers. You might be surprised at what you come up with.
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