Thomas Paine: A Christian Humanist

Abstract

Paine also believed churches were man’s construct and that the church was only designed to profit and enslave mankind. Paine wrote We ought therefore to suspect that a great mass of information respecting the Bible, and the introduction of it into the world, has been suppressed by the united tyranny of Church and State, for the purpose of keeping people in ignorance, and which ought to be known. The implication of Thomas Paine’s metaphor: My own mind is my personal church, is an ideology that demonstrates that Paine is not unfamiliar with logical reasoning which serves him more justifiably than that of the belief of church. Paine was an integral instrument in the freedom and formation of modern democracy and is responsible for a key to the United States Republic, which is the separation of church and state and freedom of religion. Jefferson used a lot of Paine’s philosophies in his writings and while President, both Paine and Jefferson thought this was Thomas Paine, a humanist could also believe in a God and still be an actual humanist believe that humans are inertly good and that Paine talks about God, although he is reverent he thinks he knows better than what has been taught to him at church, he holds himself to a moral smugness like here he states God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportly to perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent.

Biography of Thomas Paine

Paine’s childhood was that of a lens of poverty. His employment history as a young man in London leads something to be desired, his early resume contains stints as an instructor, a seaman, a tobacco shop owner, and at various times a garbage man. None of these jobs aided in his professional success, it merely jaded him and sharped a grudge towards English politics in the 1770s. He was first widowed and then separated from his second wife, he was contemplating checking out of this life, looking for an escape from his misery, failed relationships, and lack of prospects. As luck would have it he met Benjamin Franklin who encouraged him to move to America. Poor and armed with a letter of recommendation from Franklin he arrived in Philadelphia, PA USA in 1774. This letter opened doors for Paine and secured him a position as an editor for Pennsylvania Magazine.

This position was the touchstone for Paine as a philosopher, he was emboldened to be independent, seeking to liberate himself from his crumby past in Britain. Paine dedicated himself to American. Two years later, Paine published “Common Sense” under the pen “Written by an Englishman” (Johnson, 2019). It was a call to arms for people seeking freedom and liberation from England. This body of work overwhelmingly aided colonist and garnered the attention of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. At this point Paine’s was getting his break, the timing of the pamphlet’s release was aligned history, it provided direction to colonist hungry for direction and touched a nerve deep inside the heart of a revolution. (Encyclopedia.com, 2019)

Here’s how it touched them and why it still does today: Paine believed that he was the master of his own mind, that he controlled its logical reasoning, that he was the master of his own destiny, and that he is accountable to his own creed that served him and his morality. This doctrine of living served him more than that of the any organized religious ideology. He wrote “Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” ('Thomas Paine – The Crisis', 2019)

Paine also believed that churches were man’s construct and that the church was only designed to profit and enslave mankind. Paine wrote “We ought therefore to suspect that a great mass of information respecting the Bible, and the introduction of it into the world, has been suppressed by the united tyranny of Church and State, for the purpose of keeping people in ignorance, and which ought to be known.” (Quotations, 2019) In The Age of Reason, Paine criticized God (or more aptly organized religion’s interpretation of God, the Bible) and insulted organized religion by saying that God’s words were hearsay. Paine by religious preface was a heretic.

At this zeitgeist, a church’s ideology was not what was bringing about invention and contributing to bettering society, it was scientists and inventors bringing forth a host comfort and definition to the world as it was in real time. The implication of Thomas Paine’s metaphor: “My own mind is my personal church,” ('Thomas Paine: Age of Reason', 2019) is an ideology that demonstrates that Paine is not unfamiliar with logical reasoning which serves him more justifiably than that of the belief of church. Then Paine makes his point that churches are “[h]uman innovations set up to terrify and enslave mankind and monopolize power and profit.” ('Inventions Quote of the Day', 2019). In his reasonings, Paine criticized God’s revelations of ensuring moral character and labelled them as hearsay evidence. For he thought that common sense and reasoning, not the churches’ ideology brought about modern inventions in science which contributed more to human comfort. I beleive this to be why Paine is still relevant in today’s world.

Paine makes use of motivation by using which people's values, dreams, desires, and aspirations. His writings delivered a braveness in a time of want to folks who yearned for religious and economic freedom, this isn’t much different than today’s society we have a very rich few who control. When Paine wrote Common Sense the colonies were already toying with the ideas of their independence from Britain. Paine was an integral instrument in the freedom and formation of modern democracy and is responsible for a key to the United States Republic, which is the separation of church and state and freedom of religion. Jefferson threaded a lot of Paine’s philosophies into his writings, both Paine and Jefferson thought that religion and state should be separate.

Thomas Paine - a humanist who believed in a God: Humanists believe that humans are inertly good and that Paine talks about God, although he is reverent he thinks he knows better than what has been taught to him at church, he holds himself to a moral smugness like here he states “God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportly to perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent.” ('Inventions Quote of the Day', 2019). By this it is like in the reading about Good vs. Evil. God cannot be omnipresent or omnipotent if he allows humans to suffer. that humanity can recognize how the universe works; only man alone is good together, they are destructive when on mass. Nothing gets my liberal hackles up more than when a church interjects into politics. Paine’s opposition to church having influence over government, is seminal in our constitution. Church and state should be separate, this is ingrained in the DNA of my ideology. If churches could have influence over government, then we should have stayed colonies. In Paine’s day, Britain’s government, a monarchy, was heavily influence by the church. His rebellion against this type of rule spurred a revolution and I am thankful for this as an American.