Part Ii. Chapter I. The Old Testament : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], CHAPTER I--THE OLD TESTAMENT IT has often been said that any thing may be proved from the Bible; but before any thing can be admitted as proved by Bible, the Bible itself must be proved to be true; for if the Bible be not true, or the truth of it be...
Part I. Chapter Vii. Examination Of The Old : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], CHAPTER VII--EXAMINATION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. THESE books, beginning with Genesis and ending with Revelations, (which, by the bye, is a book of riddles that requires a revelation to explain it) are, we are told, the word of God. It is, therefore...
Part I. Chapter Xi. Of The Theology : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], CHAPTER XI--OF THE THEOLOGY OF THE CHRISTIANS; AND THE TRUE THEOLOGY. As to the Christian system of faith, it appears to me as a species of atheism; a sort of religious denial of God. It professes to believe in a man rather than in God. It is...
Part I. Chapter Xvii Of The Means Employed : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], CHAPTER XVII--OF THE MEANS EMPLOYED IN ALL TIME, AND ALMOST UNIVERSALLY, TO DECEIVE THE PEOPLES. HAVING thus shown the irreconcileable inconsistencies between the real word of God existing in the universe, and that which is called the word of God...
Part Ii. Chapter Ii. The New Testament : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], CHAPTER II--THE NEW TESTAMENT THE New Testament, they tell us, is founded upon the prophecies of the Old; if so, it must follow the fate of its foundation. As it is nothing extraordinary that a woman should be with child before she was married...
Part I. Chapter Iv. Of The Bases Of Christianity : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], CHAPTER IV--OF THE BASES OF CHRISTIANITY. IT is upon this plain narrative of facts, together with another case I am going to mention, that the Christian mythologists, calling themselves the Christian Church, have erected their fable, which...
Part I. Chapter Iii. Concerning The Character : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], CHAPTER III--CONCERNING THE CHARACTER OF JESUS CHRIST, AND HIS HISTORY. NOTHING that is here said can apply, even with the most distant disrespect, to the real character of Jesus Christ. He was a virtuous and an amiable man. The morality that he...
Part I. Recapitulation : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], RECAPITULATION. HAVING now extended the subject to a greater length than I first intended, I shall bring it to a close by abstracting a summary from the whole. First, That the idea or belief of a word of God existing in print, or in writing...
Part Ii. Chapter Iii. Conclusion : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], CHAPTER III--CONCLUSION IN the former part of 'The Age of Reason' I have spoken of the three frauds, mystery, miracle, and Prophecy; and as I have seen nothing in any of the answers to that work that in the least affects what I have there said up...
Part I. Chapter Xiii. Comparison Of Christianism : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], CHAPTER XIII--COMPARISON OF CHRISTIANISM WITH THE RELIGIOUS IDEAS INSPIRED BY NATURE. HAVING thus shewn, from the internal evidence of things, the cause that produced a change in the state of learning, and the motive for substituting the study...
Part I. Chapter Xiv System Of The Universe : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], CHAPTER XIV--SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE. THAT part of the universe that is called the solar system (meaning the system of worlds to which our earth belongs, and of which Sol, or in English language, the Sun, is the center) consists, besides the Sun...
Part I. Chapter V. Examination In Detail : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], CHAPTER V--EXAMINATION IN DETAIL OF THE PRECEDING BASES. PUTTING aside everything that might excite laughter by its absurdity, or detestation by its profaneness, and confining ourselves merely to an examination of the parts, it is impossible...
Part Ii. Preface : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], PART II PREFACE I HAVE mentioned in the former part of The Age of Reason that it had long been my intention to publish my thoughts upon Religion; but that I had originally reserved it to a later period in life, intending it to be the last work I...
Part I. Chapter I. The Author's Professi : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], PART I. CHAPTER I--THE AUTHOR'S PROFESSION OF FAITH. IT has been my intention, for several years past, to publish my thoughts upon religion; I am well aware of the difficulties that attend the subject, and from that consideration, had reserved it...
Part I. Chapter Vi. Of The True Theology : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], CHAPTER VI--OF THE TRUE THEOLOGY. BUT if objects for gratitude and admiration are our desire, do they not present themselves every hour to our eyes? Do we not see a fair creation prepared to receive us the instant we are born--a world furnished...
Part I. Chapter Xv. Advantages Of The Existence : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], CHAPTER XV--ADVANTAGES OF THE EXISTENCE OF MANY WORLDS IN EACH SOLAR SYSTEM. IT is an idea I have never lost sight of, that all our knowledge of science is derived from the revolutions (exhibited to our eye and from thence to our understanding) which...
Part I. Chapter Xvi. Application Of The Preceding : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], CHAPTER XVI--APPLICATION OF THE PRECEDING TO THE SYSTEM OF THE CHRISTIANS. BUT, in the midst of those reflections, what are we to think of the christian system of faith that forms itself upon the idea of only one world, and that of no greater extent...
Part I. Chapter X. Concerning God : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], CHAPTER X--CONCERNING GOD, AND THE LIGHTS CAST ON HIS EXISTENCE AND ATTRIBUTES BY THE BIBLE. THE only idea man can affix to the name of God, is that of a first cause, the cause of all things. And, incomprehensibly difficult as it is for a m...
Part I. Chapter Vii. Of The New Testament : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], CHAPTER VIII--OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. THUS much for the Bible; I now go on to the book called the New Testament. The new Testament! that is, the 'new' Will, as if there could be two wills of the Creator. Had it been the object or the intention of Jesus...
Title Page : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS PAINE COLLECTED AND EDITED BY MONCURE DANIEL CONWAY VOLUME IV. The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine (1796) Produced by Norman M. Wolcott. [Redactor's Note: The text is reproduced from The Writings of Thomas Paine Collected...
Part I. Chapter Xii. The Effects Of Christianism : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], CHAPTER XII--THE EFFECTS OF CHRISTIANISM ON EDUCATION; PROPOSED REFORMS. As the Christian system of faith has made a revolution in theology, so also has it made a revolution in the state of learning. That which is now called learning, was not...
Part I. Chapter Ii. Of Missions And Revelations : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], CHAPTER II--OF MISSIONS AND REVELATIONS. EVERY national church or religion has established itself by pretending some special mission from God, communicated to certain individuals. The Jews have their Moses; the Christians their Jesus Christ, their...
Editor's Introduction With Some Results : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION WITH SOME RESULTS OF RECENT RESEARCHES. IN the opening year, 1793, when revolutionary France had beheaded its king, the wrath turned next upon the King of kings, by whose grace every tyrant claimed to reign. But eventualities...
Part I. Chapter Ix. In What The True Revelati : * "The Age of Reason", by Thomas Paine, [1794], CHAPTER IX--IN WHAT THE TRUE REVELATION CONSISTS. BUT some perhaps will say--Are we to have no word of God--no revelation? I answer yes. There is a Word of God; there is a revelation. THE WORD OF GOD IS THE CREATION WE BEHOLD: And it is in this word...