Thomas Paine was Deist, a believer in God, but highly critical of priests and appeals to the authority of holy books. 'The Age of Reason', written over two hundred years ago, sets out to examine the Christian bible critically and logically, an act of considerable bravery given the power of the Christian Church in those times. The work was outlawed in Great Britain as potentially seditious and liable to upset the social balance of the country, but...

"Thomas Paine's Common Sense is one of the most important primary documents of the Revolutionary era. This edition of the pamphlet is unique in its inclusion of selections from Paine's other writings from 1775 and 1776 - additional essays that contextualize Common Sense and provide unusual insight on both the writer and the cause for which he wrote. The volume introduction includes coverage of Paine's childhood and early adult years in England, arguing...

Thomas Paine was Deist, a believer in God, but highly critical of priests and appeals to the authority of holy books. 'The Age of Reason', written over two hundred years ago, sets out to examine the Christian bible critically and logically, an act of considerable bravery given the power of the Christian Church in those times. The work was outlawed in Great Britain as potentially seditious and liable to upset the social balance of the country, but...