In Paine’s view, organized religions marketed unreliable hearsay piled on hearsay as “revelations” that are, by definition, based on faith rather than evidence. Carefully observing nature, he rejected nearly everything propounded by organized religions as antithetical to rational analysis, retaining from Biblical accounts only what was discernable through observation.
The Mysteries of Paine’s Beliefs in Providence Read Post »
Although both lives have been well chronicled (albeit separately), I hope there may be merit in a short selective account of the most salient features of the common radical ground shared by the two great writers, and its inspiration, a comparison that has attracted scant attention.
The sale of 150,000 copies within a matter of months furnished Thomas Jefferson with the proof of a national resolve that encouraged him to fit Paine’s reasoning to the writing of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776.
There has been much speculation on what became of Thomas Paine’s first wife, Mary Lambert, after they moved from Sandwich to Margate in April 1760. George Chalmers, in his hostile life of Paine published in 1791, was the first to speculate on it.
The Fate Of Paine’s First Wife: A Note Read Post »
Paine’s dismissal from his excise appointment at Afford left him with a shattered career, and without immediate prospects. His regular income had slipped from his grasp, but despite his swift change of fortune and the suddenness of his dismissal, he was probably quite well placed.
Paine At The Crossroads, 1763-1768 Read Post »
That century with its agricultural and industrial revolutions, the Wesley and English Methodism, the sciences, the challenge of slavery, the French and American revolutions, Thomas Paine and other enlightened thinkers, but then the loss of the colonies – was not an easy stage on which a woman might make her case.
BOOK REVIEW: Gender, Religion And Radicalism In The Long Eighteenth Century Read Post »
How much Paine ever learned about his daughter and his estranged wife we will probably never know. Sarah would appear to have conceived about six months after the marriage, and Paine was back in Thetford to commence studying for the Excise about the time his daughter died.
Thomas Paine: Observations On Methodism And His Marriage To Mary Lambert Read Post »
Although it may seem an exaggeration I nevertheless feel that books devoted to the history of secularism are sadly as rare as hens teeth, so it was something of a surprise when I read a mention in an American publication about the forthcoming publication of the work under review.
BOOK REVIEW: Freethinkers, A History Of American Secularism Read Post »
Paine had very enlarged ideas of the rights of others and was, upon principle, a thorough friend to the civil and religious liberties of all mankind. In conversation he was open and liberal, and at the same time serious and instructive.
Young Thomas Paine, Wesleyan Methodist Or Rational Dissenter? Read Post »
Thomas Paine Society undoubtedly has members who cherish his Age of Reason, their undoubted right, but can they deny that it has damaged Rights of Man for many others? A sad out- come for such an outstanding social reformer, and his work.
Thomas Paine And The Age Of Reason Read Post »
Although Charles Sutton preferred to restrict his political opinions anonymously to the pages of his paper, his few separately published essays being religious in character, John Blackner was never one to conceal his, and his outspokenness was to damn his reputation.
John Blackner And The Suttons, An Episode In Nottingham’s Political History Read Post »
I have gone back to Rights of Man and compared it carefully with The Workers Charter. I would find it hard to believe that this new work, coming on the centenary of Paine’s, was merely coincidence and of no further significance.
Rights Of Man Centenary And The Pope Read Post »
