Review of The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine was one of the most influential writers during the American Enlightenment and The Age of Reason was his most controversial piece. The goal of this book was to call into question the fundamentals of the Christian Religion focusing on the Christian scripture and ultimately undermine the power of the Church.

First you have to take into consideration the time and setting that Paine was in when this was written. It was at the beginning of the American Revolution when the church and state were one. As many know the church didn't exactly have the best intentions and put too much focus on power and money. With that said Paine tried to use The Age of Reason as a political piece as well as religious to sway the government to keep the church separate from the state.

Paine had several insightful ideas in this writing relating to the "Word of God". He holds the belief that the word of God lies in the principles of science in the world around us instead of in written scripture. He argues that the Bible was written by man in human language which there are many and translations between can be easily misunderstood. Why would God choose such an unreliable method to convey his word? Instead Paine sees the word of God in the universal language of the creation which is independent from human language and can be read by any man no matter his speech. It cannot be changed, lost, or skewed by humans... it is eternal.

He supports this theory by trying to discredit the books of the Bible. He starts with the Old Testament and I have to admit he had some very appealing arguments. First he tries to show that the accredited authors did not in fact write the books. To me this is not a pertinent argument. What was more interesting were his arguments about Moses, Samuel, and Joshua. All these men carried out horrific atrocities in the name of the Lord, and even said that God had told them to do it. We look now at all the wars going on and most of the are carried out in the name of God, but I think we can all agree that God is not fighting these wars men are and it is appalling to think that God would want us to treat each other like this and commit this awful acts of violence. If we think this of the wars now, why is it that we accept the same thing from Moses, Samuel, and Joshua. There is an account of one of Moses "wars" where he said:

"Have ye saved all the women alive? Behold, these caused the children of Israel to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord. Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known a man by lying with him; but all the women-children that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves."

That statement alone makes me question the validity of the Old Testament. Now I don't know what the Christian counter argument is for this. But I believe in a loving God and by the teachings of Jesus, His son and human example, I do not believe in any way that God would have wanted Moses to act in this way. Jesus was about forgiveness and love of all human beings and that is completely opposite of everything Jesus believed in.

I personally don't know what I think about the Old Testament. The Age of Reason has brought to light more reasons for me not to believe it is true, but I don't think it matters if it is true or not. It is about the lessons it teaches us and about the study of our religion and the history of our religion.

Paine's arguments about the New Testament hold much less validity and persuasiveness. They are mere rantings and empty accusations. He calls the Virgin Mary a liar, Jesus a fraud, and the apostles far less than creditable. The New Testament has been quoted one of the most authentic documents of history. Now everyone has the right to their own opinions, but Paine is calling Mary a liar with no proof. Here is the proof that she wasn't lying... I think it would be a big coincidence that Mary lie about how she got pregnant and then that son ended up being the single most influential and important person in human history. Just because she said she was pregnant with the son of God does not mean that that child is going to end up acting like it. Now if he turned out to be a drunk, or craftsman like his father, or farmer, or any normal man then yes, I would agree that Mary was lying... but that is not how he turned out.

The Age of Reason is a book that I think every Christian should read, if for no other reason then to learn the arguments against the Bible and be able to rebut them in a debate. I think it is good to know both sides of an argument. However I think there is a reason that the Bible is the best seller of all time and not The Age of Reason.