Two centuries after its publication, The Age of Reason remains necessary reading for freethinkers and radicals. And we should never forget those such as Carlile who strove and suffered to make it available when to do so was extremely dangerous.
The Prosecution Of The Age Of Reason Read Post »
Thomas Paine was not by nature a revolutionary; he was a reformer. His early attitude towards both government and religion was benign, and when his early history is finally presented to the public it will at last become apparent that he was originally a conformist.
Thomas Paine: His Decision To Publish The Age Of Reason Read Post »
Paine, Scripture, and Authority is an important work, particularly as it is the first book for many years to focus on The Age of Reason. Yet for all its value it pays too much attention to what the authors see as Paine’s personal motivation
It is a bit of a paradox that some atheists are the most ardent admirers of Thomas Paine and his many faceted life, yet he made it abundantly clear that he believed in one god and that Quakerism left an indelible mark on him in many ways.
A Few Thoughts On Atheism And Religion Read Post »
The first edition of Thomas Paine’s controversial work The Age of Reason has long been a bibliographical enigma. There are many contenders for priority, published in French or English and dated either 1794 of “1 An II” of the French Revolutionary Calendar.
The First Appearance Of Thomas Paine’s The Age Of Reason Read Post »
On 6 March, 1812, Daniel Isaac Eaton, the so-called “infidel bookseller”, stood before the Court of King’s Bench charged with publishing what was known as the third part of Thomas Paine’s, The Age of Reason – a work the Attorney-General saw as “a libel”.
Daniel Isaac Eaton’s Prosecution For The Third Part Of The Age Of Reason Read Post »
Although described as being in poor condition, the fact of it having been published in Canada intrigued me, for while I have seen many editions of this famous work originating from many lands, I had never seen a Canadian edition of Paine’s The Age of Reason.
The First Canadian Edition Of The Age Of Reason? Read Post »
Reactions to Paine have coloured the understanding and appreciation of him, and he has been recognised as primarily a political or religious figure, but there is an important feature of his work which has long been neglected, his interest in science.
Science And Thomas Paine Read Post »
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.
THOMAS PAINE: THE METHODIST INFLUENCE Read Post »
Thomas Paine had minimal experience at the eyepiece of a telescope and he showed no inclination later in his life to pursue astronomical studies. But in The Age of Reason he shows he had gained a very clear understanding of the solar system from those early days in London.
Thomas Paine’s Astronomy Read Post »
Paine’s Rights of Man was prosecuted for libel not so much because of its contents but because, rather than confining his audience to ‘the judicious reader’, he had addressed ‘the lowest orders of the people – people who…cannot from their education or situation in ‘life, be supposed to understand the. subject on which he writes.’
The 1790’s: Paine And The Age Of Reason Read Post »
There can be no doubt that Paine’s ideas in the 1790’s had profound effects upon political thinking among Irish radicals, just as they did among the revolutionaries of France, the United States, and Britain. Both he and Wolfe Tone met in Paris in 1797 and during the “dragooning” of Ulster.
Dr. Hincks And The Age Of Reason In Cork Read Post »
