The Age Of Reason

Analyze Paine’s conception of God in comparison to the Judeo-Christian conception. How does Paine’s conception embody his Deistic beliefs? What similarities and differences exist between these two conceptions?

Consider the role of science in Paine’s thought. How does Paine’s Age of Reason reflect and engage with the Scientific Revolution of his own era? How do his scientific views differ from modern ones?

Paine insists that Age of Reason, while dealing with religious subject matter, is a natural extension of his famous political treatises. What are the continuities between Paine’s political and religious ideals? In what ways, if any, can his religious views be seen as continuing a revolutionary project?

What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of Paine’s arguments? In what ways do you agree or disagree with Paine’s views?

Compare and contrast Paine’s religious ideas with those of some other Enlightenment figures, such as Voltaire or Rousseau. How do Paine’s views compare with wider intellectual trends in his era? In what ways, if any, does he differ from some of his major contemporaries?

Paine argues that Deism can provide a basis for sound morality. How would you characterize Paine’s ethical views? In what ways does Deism shape these views? How do Paine’s ethics align or contrast with traditional Judeo-Christian ones?

Paine relies heavily upon “internal” textual evidence when analyzing both the Old and New Testaments. What are the strengths and limitations of this approach?

Many people in the United States in the late 18th and early 19th centuries accepted Paine’s political arguments, but rejected his religious viewpoint. What religious countercurrents existed at the time? How did these religious countercurrents address Enlightenment critiques of religion?