The Age of Reason 859the mind of God. Science and religion do not fight
against each another in this scenario but, instead,
complement each other. Paine contends that God,
through offering humankind the application of rea-
son, provides them with obvious, ethical guidelines
to follow in their everyday lives.
LuElla Putnam
IndIvIduaL and SocIety in The Age
of Reason
Throughout Thomas Paine’s essay The Age of Rea-
son, there is a pervading sense of the writer’s distrust
of society as a whole. The text begins by empha-
sizing the author’s personal viewpoints. Chapter
1 is actually entitled “The Author’s Profession of
Faith,” and in it, Paine discusses how he thinks his
own beliefs can render a far-reaching impact on the
world around him. He openly proclaims that his
reason-based beliefs are in direct opposition to the
core tenets of the world’s current primary religions.
He declares, “My own mind is my own church,”
indicating that he is setting himself apart from the
institutions that the majority of the general public
turns to when seeking moral authority. Paine even
goes so far as to say that “All national institutions
of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish,
appear to me no other than human inventions set
up to terrify and enslave mankind and monopolize
power and profit.” Thus, it is his purpose in “The
Age of Reason” to release the hold he believes vari-
ous religions possess over the general populace. He
desires to replace the “myths” of religion with the
hard “facts” of reason.
One tactic Paine employs to set himself apart
as a free thinker is his logical deconstruction of the
ideas of “missions and revelations” upon which many
religious institutions were founded. In most world
religions, God makes himself known to individuals
called prophets and reveals his mind to them. Those
prophets will write down what they have observed
and, accordingly, pass their knowledge on to others.
Paine finds this methodology suspect, arguing that
“It is a contradiction in terms and ideas to call any-
thing a revelation that comes to us at second hand.”
Here, he is again emphasizing the significance of
individuality. He does not believe that one should
ever rely on the facts others impart to him. On the
contrary, truth can only be gleaned if one can see it
for him or herself.
One of the most controversial examples Paine
provides about the inability of men to trust their
brethren involves the Virgin Mary. He asserts,
“When also I am told that a woman, called the Vir-
gin Mary, said, or gave out, that she was with child
without any cohabitation with a man; and that her
betrothed husband Joseph, said that an angel told
him so, I have a right to believe them or not: such
a circumstance required a much stronger evidence
than their bare word for it.” At this point, he is call-
ing into question the foundation of the Christian
religion. Essentially, he is saying that others have
attempted to convince him that Jesus is the son of
God, but as he has no proof for himself, then he
has made the conscious decision not believe it. His
individual reasoning has thus superseded hundreds
of years of church doctrine. Generally, Paine believes
that to serve God, then one must serve reason first.
Otherwise, one is detracting from the most valuable
gift God has provided to mankind. In “The Age
of Reason,” an individual’s personal knowledge is
heightened to such a level that the opinions of oth-
ers are of almost no consequence.
Finally, it is vital to point out that, beyond
Paine’s blatant attack on Christianity, his writing
was also seen as controversial by many of those in
power because of its plain, easily comprehensible
language. As a primary activist during the Ameri-
can Revolution, Paine believed that all men had
the ability to use reason to find and know God.
One did not have to be a prophet or high church
member to understand the inner workings of God;
one merely had to use the reason with which he
had been bestowed from birth. Thus, rather than
using a convoluted poetic style, Paine’s writing is
clear to nearly all readers. It is not surprising that
this emphasis on the common man was frowned on
by many of those in power. In fact, prior to Paine’s
writing, most of the concepts he was presenting were
only in circulation to a privileged, elite class of white
men. Paine, however, actually concluded his work by
saying, “When opinions are free, either in matters of
government or religion, truth will finally and power-
fully prevail.” Ultimately, he held the belief that all
men, no matter their economic or social standings,