The Age of Reason

Description

The Age of Reason is an insightful argumentative work by English-American philosopher, political activist and theologian Thomas Paine. The book expresses criticism directed against institutionalized religion and proposes a new approach toward the reading of the Bible as well. Published in three parts, in 1794, 1795 and in 1807, the book enjoyed huge popularity in Britain and was an instant best-seller in the United States.

In the book, Thomas Paine expresses deistic views prominent among 18th century intellectuals. The philosophical position rejects the idea of God’s direct interference with everyday occurrences in the world and also proposes the interpretation of the Bible as an ordinary literary work. Informed by the scientific discoveries that accompanied the scientific and industrial revolution of the age, the theory advocates the idea of natural religion, that is, the idea of using reason, rather than revelation to prove the existence of God. In his book, Paine also criticizes the institution of the Church for striving to achieve political power and influence.

The ideas promoted by Paine had long been known, discussed and debated by the intellectuals of his time, but the easy to understand language and the clear, logical argumentation that Paine used in The Age of Reason made the theory available for a much larger audience, too and it provides food for thought for today’s readers as well.

The Age of Reason is a revolutionary piece of writing that attracted a lot of attention and a lot of criticism, too. Paine wrote the first part while he was imprisoned in Luxembourg Prison in Paris, after he had been tried for libel against Edmund Burke, a conservative political theorist, orator and philosopher.
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