The issue of Faith versus Reason and the relationship between them has been discussed throughout civilization. A prime figure in this discussion during the recent past, the mid 18’th to the early 19’th centuries, was Thomas Paine. Paine’s writings during both the United States and French revolutions helped to spearhead the respective countries into revolution and eventually freedom. As such, Paine is certainly seen as an influential figure during this time period for practical reasons. But Paine is equally important because of the way in which he influenced entire countries and helped to bring about change. Paine’s approach to doing this shows the distinction between faith and reason as well as how the two can coexist together and accomplish a great many things. To adequately see this relationship it is necessary to look at the way Thomas Paine lived as well as his writings and then to compare how these two things relate and affected the world as a whole. In this way it is possible to get a clear view of the relationship between faith and reason and how it relates to a time period and a man.
The issue of faith versus reason is clearly evident throughout Paine’s life as much of his life seemed to focus on conflicts and contradictions. Paine was born in 1737 in Thetford, England in a relatively poor section of the city. It is speculated that this poorer upbringing combined with the rather brutal and tyrannous rule of the local Duke set the basis for Paine’s later crusades against those in power and quests in favor of equality and protection for the lower class. Much of Paine’s early life was spent wandering from place to place and station to station without ever really finding a niche. His formal education lasted u...
... middle of paper ...
... be used to advance the other. Unfortunately it is unclear, because of the unstable nature of the man himself, whether or not Paine was even ever conscious of his own inconsistencies or of the conflict between his own writings and belief system.
Bibliography
- Barnes, Michael, Paul Benson. ASI 102 Reader. American Heritage Custom Publishing,
1997.
- McKay, P. John, Bennet D. Hill, John Buckler. A History of Western Society. 5th ed.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1995.
- Paine, Thomas. Common Sense.
http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/commonsense/index.html (April
1998)
- Paine, Thomas. The Life and Writings of Thomas Paine. Vincent Park and Company.
New York: 1908.
- The Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment.
http://www.foxberry.net/rbutler/scientific.html (March 1998)
The Reformation debate letters from John Calvin and Jacopo Sadoleto illustrate the religious controversy of the sixteenth century. Sadoleto’s letter was addressed to the magistrates and citizens of Geneva, pleading them to come back to the Catholic church, as they had fallen to the ways of the Reformers. In his letter, Sadoleto painted the Reformers as ‘crafty’ and ‘enemies of Christian peace’ (30), never directly addressing them. Calvin does, however, address Sadoleto’s insinuations directly in his response. The two letters disagree when it comes to justification, Sadoleto believing that it comes by faith and works and Calvin, more so along the lines that faith is what really matters. Calvin successfully argues against Sadoleto’s premise and presents influential points, making his argument more convincing than his opponent’s.
“In God We Trust” is the phrase upon which we base our country. It can be seen on our money, in our justice system, and even in our Pledge of Allegiance. By recognizing God as the foundation of truth and justice which most people were inclined to accept, both Paine and Henry formed successful arguments based partly upon transfer. Because God is considered the truth, the right way, and the fair judge of the world, it only made sense to use His influence to give credibility and the positive connections associated with God to the American Revolution. As intended, both audiences freely a...
Paine was no fool. He had an innate sense for politics and people in general. His sophisticated writing and carefully planned rhetoric repeatedly swayed the masses in works such as Common Sense and The Rights of Man. The publication of The Crisis came at a time when the odds were heavily agai...
Thomas Paine begins his article by first exploring the differences between society and government. He explains that, “society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil.” (Frohnen 179) What he means by this is that to have society and community is a privilege, because we as humans are designed to have a need for human interaction, while government on the other hand is only a necessary evil, simply because we as humans are also designed to be inherently evil, and therefore government is a necessary evil to have in order to monitor wrongdoing, or to keep us from our own vices in other words. This emphasizes the Classical Christian Anthropological principle of duality, which is the inner struggle that we as humans have between amor sui, the love of self, and amor dei, the love of God. This struggle springs from the fact that evil is found within man, and we must mak...
During 1776, the United States was at war to gain its own independence from the hands of the tyrant King George III and his kingdom. As the fightt continued, the spirits of the U.S. soldiers began to die out as the nightmares of winter crawled across the land. Thomas Paine, a journalist, hoped to encourage the soldiers back into the fight through one of his sixteen pamphlets, “The American Crisis (No.1)”. In order to rebuild the hopes of the downhearted soldiers, Thomas Paine establishes himself as a reliable figure, enrages them with the crimes of the British crown, and, most importantly evokes a sense of culpability.
“Religion is the backbone of evolution.” Without the cultural differences and belief systems we would not have a regulated religious base. It is evident some religions can be both alike but yet still very different. The historical William Bradford and Jonathan Edwards demonstrate this theory. William Bradford portrays more leniencies while allowing for more religious tolerance within the puritan community. With some contrasting beliefs but familiar goals, Jonathan Edwards, pursued a stricter religious background. Both of these author’s play an important role in sculpting the puritan way of life.
When Paine constructed The Age of Reason he innovated a spiritual idea known as Deism. This belief attacked the very nature of organized religion that was practiced by the Puritans. It was to Paine’s belief that the churches were constructed in order to scare and subjugate all of mankind, while exercising power and gaining profits. This type of thinking was probably appalling to the American people of that time, whom held strong, traditional, religious beliefs. However, Paine’s philosophies fascinated the many Americans whom were immersed in the wisdom of the Enlightenment period and struggled to follow the Puritan ways.
Perry, Marvin, et al. Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics and Society. 4th ed. Vol. I. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992.
Lucretius’ account of his work invites the more enterprising atheists to become more informed and familiar with the patina of a respected tradition, blurring their ability to decipher between enlightenment and classical rationalism. In order for enlightenment rationalism to achieve its end, it must fundamentally transform not only the nature of philosophy itself, but also what we as humans understand as the good life.
...ery discussion upon established creeds, and upon first principles of religion, that until the system of government should be changed, those subjects could not be brought fairly and openly before the world; but that whenever this should be done, a revolution in the system of religion would follow.” This reason means that he went to all these churches, and they all preached different things about God. That what they preached they would follow it even if not true.
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was a powerful and successful propaganda weapon used to promote his idea of independence from Britain. In order to prove that seeking independence was necessary at this time in history, Paine wrote about the relationship between society and government, his opinions about the British monarchy and the King, and the freedoms he believed had been stolen from the colonists. Common Sense was written in terms that were easily relatable to the colonist of this time period. After they finished reading his work, many colonists’ opinions about the British were swayed by his strong words. Even though Paine arrived in America quite late, he was able to make a significant difference by changing the colonists’ views, which ultimately
Coffin, Judith G., and Robert C. Stacey. "CHAPTER 18 PAGES 668-669." Western Civilizations: Their History & Their Culture. 16TH ed. Vol. 2. New York, NY: W. W. Norton &, 2008. N. pag. Print.
The Enlightenment was an age of thought that begins in an optimistic phase, but slowly becomes pessimistic through the century. Candide and Pangloss feel that everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds. Through their trials and tribulations, they keep up this attitude, only to be proven wrong through experiences of religion, persecution, unfairness, and death. A common agreement between Voltaire and Hampson is that God should only care that man is moral, that through justness, man will get along and be rewarded fairly. Hampson's statement: "Many Christians shared with the Deists the conviction that religion was at least as much concerned with the welfare of man as with the...
Thomas Paine is undoubtedly one of the most prolific founding fathers of the United States, albeit not in the manner most would expect from a founding father. Paine was not a drafter of the constitution, nor was he an early member of Congress or President of the United States. However, Paine did have a profound impact on society, not only in America, but also abroad. Often remembered for helping spur the American Revolution, yet not as often remembered for the other revolution in France. Two of the more famous writings from Paine are, of course, Common Sense and The Rights of Man, both of which were written during revolutionary times in separate countries. It goes without saying that when a revolution is taking place there will be many on both sides of the war; in both of these instances, Paine was the voice of the people and stood up for what was right regardless of the consequences. I posit Thomas Paine was the most influential man for revolution in America and France despite fear of backlash or imprisonment. In fact, near the end of his life Paine was not only imprisoned, but somehow evaded being beheaded as well. Thomas Paine was even more influential as a result of his extreme lack of self-interest and ability to stay true to the cause of his writings rather than wither away in fear.
Through my study of Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” and Saint Augustine’s “The Confessions”, I discovered that both text involve a journey of finding real truths before acquiring a faith. This suggests that faith and reason are compatible because one must embark on journey in which they are educated about real truths before they are able to acquire a faith.