Paine admired the teachings of Jesus, and he went to great lengths to free them from smothering additions, which had been drawn from the mythology of ancient cults and grafted onto them by the churchmakers who usurped Jesus’s role of teacher.
The meteoric political career of Thomas Paine was so dazzling that it has largely eclipsed the events of his formative years during which he obtained the expertise and developed the tenacity that enabled him to respond to the opportunity afforded by the rapid changes in the American colonies.
I suspect that Paine would not have agreed with being called an “Angel”, though when taking into account some of the other things he was called, such a description is innocuous enough. This book has no value as a historical work, but it certainly has value as a Paine curiosity.
From time to time long forgotten but interesting bibliographical material relative to Thomas Paine comes to light. Such material may offer us nothing new about Paine himself but it often serves to indicate the high regard for his memory his supporters had. One such item recently came my way
It has been generally accepted that the only office Thomas Paine was elected to by public vote was a seat in the French Convention. Now thanks to research undertaken by Leslie Davey of Lewes it is now known that Paine was at one time a member of Lewes Town Council.
The historic first A.G.M. of the Thomas Paine Society took place in the Sussex town of Lewes on Saturday, November 14th. It was a fitting conclusion to a very active year’s work and fittingly held in a town with many Paine associations.
Thomas Paine Society First Annual General Meeting Read Post »
As mentioned in the A.G.M. Report the Society is co-operating with the Trade Union, Labour, Co-operative and Democratic History Society. This body organised a conference in London on October 31st. at which the Thomas Paine Society was officially represented.
