Paine, Thomas

Thomas Paine : Collected Writings : Common Sense / The Crisis / Rights of Man / The Age of Reason / Pamphlets, Articles, and Letters (Library of America)

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Teach Thomas Paine to all Ages
Most Important Founding Father - outstanding one-volume edition of his writings!
Timeless inspiration
Age of Reason
RICKYTHEREADER'S AGENDA

Thomas Paine : Collected Writings : Common Sense / The Crisis / Rights of Man / The Age of Reason / Pamphlets, Articles, and Letters (Library of America)
Thomas Paine
Manufacturer: Library of America
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1883011035

Book Description

Paine was the impassioned democratic voice of the Age of Revolution, and this volume brings together his best-known works--"Common Sense," "The American Crisis," "Rights of Man," "The Age of Reason," along with a selection of letters, articles and pamphlets that emphasizes Paine's American years.

Customer Reviews:

Teach Thomas Paine to all Ages.......2006-12-03

Paine truly is the forgotten founding father. Unbelievably, I never learned about him till college--and only then through specific history classes. In addition to this volume, I suggest one of my recent discoveries: The Elementary Common Sense of Thomas Paine; the 1776 document Common Sense adapted and illustrated for ages 11 on up. It is here on Amazon. Paine, and all of our country's founding documents, should be taught to kids early on.

Most Important Founding Father - outstanding one-volume edition of his writings!.......2006-07-22

Thomas Paine was the most consistent and important of all the American Founding Fathers. He consistently spoke up in favor of liberty and freedom; for example, his opposition to the institution of slavery (which he argued was immoral and un-Christian and thought it quite contradictory to claim to be a Christian on the one hand and support slavery on the other hand) - Paine also spoke up in support of women's rights, freedom of thought, the poor, etc.

The important thing about Paine is that he practiced what he preached, as opposed to just about every other founding father (e.g., Jefferson saying all are "created equal" but owning slaves, or Adams "dismissing" his wife's assertion that they too should be included in the political process). I don't think we ought to condemn those individuals for the beliefs that they had, indeed they were products of their time period - and they are worthy of study. However, I also believe that we should praise those who were able to step out of that period and see things as they are, this is what Paine was able to do.

If you doubt Paine's importance in the history of American independence, consider the following; probably no other phamphlet brought the idea of independence to the mind of the colonists like Paine's "Common Sense" did and it was Paine's "Crisis #1" that was read to Washington's soldiers before they prepared for the biggest fight of the American Revolution. Paine's defense of the French Revolution in his "Rights of Man" sparked off a publication war that has yet to be matched and his "The Age of Reason" delineated the philosophical ideas that most of the founding fathers had with regard to religion (regardless of what the religious right would have you to believe).

Paine's mistake was not believing what most of the founding fathers believed, that the "common man and woman" was not intellectual enough to handle the arguments that he (and the others) were advocating. It was his consistency which brought about his downfall - this is a shame, because he is one of the most important thinkers to come out of the Revolutionary Period in American history.

Timeless inspiration.......2006-07-08

Thomas Paine, especially in The Age of Reason, did not put forth completely original ideas. Many of his contemporaries had the same critisms that Paine did in regard to organized religion especially Christianity. However, Thomas Paine organized such thoughts in a way that they were accessible to common men. Unfortunately his brave and inspirational work was his downfall. Closeminded and fearful citizens, like RICKITHEREADER in our modern times were frightened that perhaps Paine was tearing a hole the the fabric of their blind faith and because of this, Paines' last work, The Age of Reason, left him to die alone and impoverished. He was abandoned, even by his intellectual contemporaries, most who agreed with him but were not brave enough to voice their beliefs in the common vernacular. I was inspired by Paine who wrote, "My mind is my own church," which was not the voice of an atheist but the voice of a man who really did know the "truth" and his true path. Unlike RickitheReader, I have read both the bible and Paine with an open mind and heart. The joy of reading is the ability to let it lead you to new places. Thomas Paine would have said it better. Read this compilation and it will lead you to new places, wherever your faith is.

Age of Reason.......2006-05-31

Paine's "Age of Reason" was a mind-blowing revelation for me, so I'll focus mainly on that in this review. Although he has little formal education (fortunately it doesn't require much to know that hearsay, even the printed variety, is not always accurate), Paine is a brilliant independent thinker who advocates critically and intelligently evaluating the Bible. He dismisses the need to insist on divine explanations for what is simply the warlike, violent behavior of a typical tribal society, and shows his unique ability to filter the positive aspects of Biblical teaching (i.e. kindness, mercy, regard for one's neighbors) from the more mythological aspects of it (creationism, the fall of Satan, etc.).

While it can be argued that because none of us have physically met Thomas Paine and thus have no reason to believe that he is truly the author of these works (just as we have never met Jesus and have no reason to believe that he said or did anything recorded in the Bible), this doesn't really matter. Just like Paine points out that he can take the positive aspects of Jesus' teachings and employ them whether or not he believes in Jesus himself, so can we take the positive aspects of Paine's writings and employ them whether or not we believe that he ever existed.

Another thing about "Age of Reason" that I found particularly gripping is Paine's ability to focus on the big picture regarding nature, rather than the individualized picture. That is, while nature may not seem fair to each of us individuals who suffer and are unhappy, it is fair in a larger sense. While no other species but humans have developed the technology to (mostly) beat the system, for every species there is a species which it preys upon and which preys upon it. Until humans developed the scores of vaccines and weapons and mass production of food that we have, we were just as much a part of this natural balance as any other creature. Every species was equally liable to suffer extinction or overpopulation, and one's rising or falling were based on simple natural laws that applied to everyone -- there is no magic. It is this "justice" that, I believe, Paine was talking about, not that there is no pain or struggle. Every species has both a degree of robbing, raping, and killing, as well as a degree of giving, nurturing, and reproducing. It's all part of the cycle, and while it is painful, it is neither good nor bad.

Anyway, though Paine tends to go off on nitpicking Biblical tangents, the underlying point of Age of Reason is fairly straightforward: the various fallacies and cruelties of the Bible do reveal it as simply another human manuscript, no more divine and no less insightful than any other, and one can and should glean the good while straining out the bad, feeling no obligation to piously swallow it all whole if one does not agree. Or, in a phrase: think critically.

RICKYTHEREADER'S AGENDA.......2006-01-27

Paine's writing is rich with stunning clarity. He was one of America's most brilliant and inspiring writers. That is if you don't read any of 'RICKYTHEREADER's reviews. RICKYTHEREADER has reviewed exactly four books on the amazon website, all about Paine and all delving into proselytizing (over 50 mentions of the bible or Jesus between the four reviews). Further, he's obsessed with the fact that Paine failed out of school at the age of 12. Does this mean we must discount his body of work? Einstein was a slow learner, perhaps that 'lightbulb' idea wasn't quite as good as we all thought. Hey, think what you want, but disliking someone's views has little to do with the quality of their work. Especially of someone as deservingly revered as Paine. If he's such a mediocre writer, why did RICKYTHEREADER dig into FOUR of his books? I love Paine, but I've not read that many! My message to RICKYTHEREADER: Love God if you wish, but don't write reviews with an agenda. Write a review of the work.

Common Sense, The Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings of Thomas Paine (Signet Classics)

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Forgotten Founding Father
Essential Reading Fo Every American
Must-read for anyone seriously interested in American history
Enlightening, Revolutionary, and Worth a Read
In simplest terms and lack of a better title: Common Sense

Common Sense, The Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings of Thomas Paine (Signet Classics)
Thomas Paine
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0451528891
Release Date: 2003-07-01

Customer Reviews:

Forgotten Founding Father .......2007-04-16

Thomas Paine is not as heralded as the rest of the Founding Fathers. This is most likely due to his not holding any political office, and largely due to his heterodox views on religion. But more about the that later.

I was quiet impressed with Paine's "Golden Voice" for the Revolution. He had a talent, and even a genius, for persuasive essaymanship. John Adams wrote, "Without the pen of Thomas Paine, the sword of Washington would have been wielded in vain."

This is a book of selections, and as C. S. Lewis observed, "The only use of selections is to deter those readers who will never appreciate the original, and thus save them from wasting their time on it, and to send all the others on the original as quickly as possible." (The Quotable Lewis, #447)

For a complete compilation, buy Thomas Paine : Collected Writings : Common Sense / The Crisis / Rights of Man / The Age of Reason / Pamphlets, Articles, and Letters (Library of America).

Here is the breakdown of this book's contents:

"Common Sense" (complete): Plain and simple, this should be required reading for every high school student--or even earlier. We cannot underestimate the connection between this pamphlet, Patrick Henry's "Liberty or Death" speech, and the decision to go ahead with the Declaration of Independence. In fact, the order, logic, and evidence that Paine used in this pamphlet was reused by Jefferson in the Declaration.

"The Crisis" (selections): These essays are a combination of motivational speeches and silver-tongued ridicule--a cross between Tokyo Rose and Rush Limbaugh.

"Rights of Man" (complete, both parts):

Coming in two part, this book could also be divided along the lines of it's contents: One half is a rambly screed against Edmund Burk's Reflections on the Revolution in France (Oxford World's Classics), the other half is rather snazzy political theory. For example, his distinction between natural and civil rights is a gem.

Age of Reason (selections of part 1): This is the book that really undid Paine and brought about the famous doggerel: "Here lies Tom Paine, who wrote in liberty's defense / And in his `Age of Reason' lost his `Common Sense.'" Like Nietzsche, Paine had a talent for sarcasm which overshadowed his evidence. Think of How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must): The World According to Ann Coulter.

Though critical of religion, the book did leave it's mark: Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism (The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ or Encyclopedia of Joseph Smith's Teachings), was well-schooled in this book. His mother recorded that Smith's paternal grandfather got into a heated discussion with his father, and threw a copy of the book and told Smith's father to read it until he believed it History of Joseph Smith by His Mother: Revised and Enhanced. BYU scholar Joseph Fielding McConkie, a great-great grandnephew of Joseph Smith, was also favorable to certain aspects of the book "Seeking the spirit."

Really, this book is nothing new, if one is familiar with Bertrand Russell's or Carl Sagan's critiques, or spend any time reading anti-Christian blogs. A Christian response would be either Mere Christianity or More Than a Carpenter.

When he presented the manuscript to Benjamin Franklin, the sage replied, "At present I shall only give you my opinion, that, though your reasonings are subtle and may prevail with some readers, you will not succeed so as to change the general sentiments of mankind on that subject, and the consequence of printing this piece will be, a great deal of odium drawn upon yourself, mischief to you, and no benefit to others. He that spits against the wind, spits in his own face."

His parting paragraph is a mixture of wit, wisdom, and prophecy:

"I would advise you, therefore, not to attempt unchaining the tiger, but to burn this piece before it is seen by any other person; whereby you will save yourself a great deal of mortification by the enemies it may raise against you, and perhaps a good deal of regret and repentance. If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be if without it."

So take it for what it is. Whatever your view of organized religion may be, this book should round out your thinking.

Agrarian Justice (selections): This is Paine's plan for redistributing income to equalize living conditions. The intent of economic equality is in accord with Paine's big heart. But for the man who said, "Government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one," it is beyond strange that he would advocate such intrusiveness. Why would he want to create a nation-wide welfare system, which would of necessity, empower that "necessary evil." Maybe he did loose his common sense in his age of reason.

As I mentioned earlier, Paine is not as well known as the other founders, partly due to "Age of Reason." Additionally there is a shallowness to Paine's prose. At times he is an avid marksman for political theory, as in parts of "Common Sense" and "Rights of Man," at other times he merely strings together platitudes, invective, cracker-barrel wisdom, and off-hand sarcasm. There is no analytical depth as we get with Aristotle, Ayn Rand, C. S. Lewis, or the Thomases (Sowell and Aquinas). So I felt like I was drinking skim milk, as opposed to chocolate cream. His essays are persuasive, but not as intellectually satisfying as they could be. His talent, then, comes from an instinct for properly applying his talent for surface-level discussion. Today, he would be an NPR talking head.

Essential Reading Fo Every American.......2007-01-24

The ideas in these collections not only apply when the Founding FATHERS came together and brought together our aweseome country, but they apply to the present more than ever. The responsibilities of the people have been forgotten, it is now blasphemy to denounce or question the government. Nothing will change until the ideas in this collection are brought back into the American people's day to day life.

Must-read for anyone seriously interested in American history.......2007-01-22

This is what we're founded on, what America is supposed to be, and the way we should conduct our political affairs. Paine should probably be required reading for every citizen, every student, anyone wondering what freedom really means. Besides being informative, it is incisive, sarcastic, humorous, and passionate. The English is old and dated, but that just adds to its delight. I read this in short segments and then thought about each chapter. It made me proud to be an American and sad to realize how much freedom we've lost since Paine's day.

Enlightening, Revolutionary, and Worth a Read.......2006-11-14

In an unrelenting quest to understanding the history of the United States, one obscure name comes to mind, Thomas Paine. Paine helped establish the meaning of democracy and the "united" in United States. His two monumental works, COMMON SENSE AND RIGHTS OF MAN, provided the philosophical and rhetorical building blocks that the founding fathers, such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, et al., would emulate with the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Many take for granted the origins of freedom and democracy in the United States, and as with many school history textbooks depict, Paine merely appears in a paragraph or two, and quickly disappears to historical oblivion.

Nevertheless, when one reads COMMON SENSE AND RIGHTS OF MAN: AND OTHER ESSENTIAL WRITINGS OF THOMAS PAINE, there will be no doubt how significant his philosophical and political writings transformed the political structure of the colonies. Although this may sound somewhat romanticized, Paine's words ignited the energy for the colonists to free themselves from the tyrannical-monarchical leadership of England's King George III. With all the talk of Paine being a founding father, he may also be considered the father of revolution, American Revolution and French Revolution, and human rights. Without the inspiration from his friend Edmund Burke, author of REFLECTIONS ON THE REVOLUTION IN FRANCE, Paine may not have been able to write the pamphlet Rights of Man. Indeed, his power of the written word translated to revolutionary action, and Jeffersonian ideology.

In clear and no nonsense language, Paine's perspective of the state of the colonies are elaborately told in COMMON SENSE. He adamantly shows his opposition toward hereditary rule and limitations imposed on individuals by George III and his vehement disdain towards aristocrats and kings. For RIGHTS OF MAN, he proposed possible solutions toward poverty, and created a blueprint towards achieving social and political institutions through his written abstracts. The other essential writings include the pamphlets, THE CRISIS, part one of THE AGE OF REASON, and selections of AGRARIAN JUSTICE. These writings gives readers an idea the political and religious atmosphere in which Paine lived, and how "breaking ties" with the so-called "motherland" was necessary towards forging a free nation.

COMMON SENSE AND RIGHTS OF MAN is indeed accessible with its pocketbook size form. After reading the book, readers may have a better understanding of what takes to build a nation. Paine's words are lessons of history and humanity, and is definitely recommendable reading.

In simplest terms and lack of a better title: Common Sense.......2006-10-25

Thomas Paine is one of those great philosophers who have a satiric spirit. Why not? He is from an age of great wits/philosophers - Voltaire, Rousseau. The most obvious reason for his greatness lies herein and it is because his reasoning and ideas are so obvious; that is his greatness. He says what is already in the minds of many and with a wit which gives the ideas strength. When I think of Thomas Paine, I think of Common Sense, the 1776 pamphlet and the spirit of reason over superstitious hypocrisy. I rank Paine with Tolstoy; I revere Thomas Paine

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200 years ago I would have given it a 5/5, Today it gets a 3
Have Not Read It Yet? Be Ashamed!
So You Wanna Start a Revolution?
Good Version
Common sense about Common Sense

Common Sense (Little Books of Wisdom)
Thomas Paine
Manufacturer: Applewood Books
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ASIN: 1557094586

Amazon.com

"These are the times that try men's souls," begins Thomas Paine's first Crisis paper, the impassioned pamphlet that helped ignite the American Revolution. Published in Philadelphia in January of 1776, Common Sense sold 150,000 copies almost immediately. A powerful piece of propaganda, it attacked the idea of a hereditary monarchy, dismissed the chance for reconciliation with England, and outlined the economic benefits of independence while espousing equality of rights among citizens. Paine fanned a flame that was already burning, but many historians argue that his work unified dissenting voices and persuaded patriots that the American Revolution was not only necessary, but an epochal step in world history.

Book Description

Thomas Paine arrived in America from England in 1774. A friend of Ben Franklin, he was a writer of poetry and tracts condemning the slave trade. In 1775, as hostilities between Britain and the colonies intensified, Paine wrote "Common Sense" to encourage the colonies to break the British exploitative hold through independence. The little booklet of 50 pages was published January 10, 1776 and sold a half-million copies, approximately equal to 75 million copies today.

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Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries BY A GOVERNMENT, which we might expect in a country WITHOUT GOVERNMENT, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer.

Customer Reviews:

200 years ago I would have given it a 5/5, Today it gets a 3.......2006-12-04

After reading this one may think to them self that Thomas Paine does not get enough credit for motivating the masses to seek independence from British rule. He indeed had a significant part in the birth of the United States. With 64 pages of editor's introduction and commentary it still poses a challenge to those whom aren't familiar with the style and manner of old English dialect in which he speaks through his words. The subjects of conversation are: Origin of government in general, monarchy and hereditary succession and the time for the colonials to come together and unite. Much of this was motivated by new taxes imposed by the British at the time, that is basically how this all started, the greedy British wanted more control.

There are many things which are certain, he was indeed a theist. He was apposed to the way in which royalty obtain power and control, and how system of government can be based of such scandalous perversions of such ponderous propaganda. There are significant chucks of the book addressing the important observation of recognizing how such powers come to be. A good and almost perfect example of this was portrayed through the explanative dialogue of a famous and most humorous film entitled "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." The scene which tackles the absurdity of man bequeathed with eternal blessing to rule over all others as king shows us that such a system is nothing more than barbaric oppression and cruelty upon the common man, the people. In simple synapse: "Why should I be held on a pedestal above all others, especially you?"

The dialogue goes as fallows:

[...]

King Arthur: Old woman.
Dennis: Man.
King Arthur: Man, sorry. What knight lives in that castle over there?
Dennis: I'm 37.
King Arthur: What?
Dennis: I'm 37. I'm not old.
King Arthur: Well I can't just call you "man".
Dennis: Well you could say "Dennis".
King Arthur: I didn't know you were called Dennis.
Dennis: Well you didn't bother to find out did you?
King Arthur: I did say sorry about the "old woman", but from behind you looked...
Dennis: What I object to is you automatically treat me like an inferior.
King Arthur: Well I am king.
Dennis: Oh, king eh? Very nice. And how'd you get that, eh? By exploiting the workers. By hanging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society.

King Arthur: I am your king.
Woman: Well I didn't vote for you.
King Arthur: You don't vote for kings.
Woman: Well how'd you become king then?
[Angelic music plays... ]
King Arthur: The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. THAT is why I am your king.
Dennis: [interrupting] Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

Dennis: Oh, but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you.

Dennis: Oh but if I went `round sayin' I was Emperor, just because some moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away.

(King Arthur begins to hit Dennis.)

Dennis: Come and see the violence inherent in the system. Help! Help! I'm being repressed!
King Arthur: Bloody peasant!
Dennis: Oh, what a giveaway! Did you hear that? Did you hear that, eh? That's what I'm on about! Did you see him repressing me? You saw him, Didn't you?

This is an obvious example, and not so far from the truth. How did kings gain power in history? Not by going hut to hut asking for votes or support; but by inflicting religion as a tool to claim enchanted power above all else. Using power and force, kings brutally acted as pimped out gangsters of the past, stealing land, burning villages and scaring the masses into repression. Collecting taxes as a form of appraisal for false protection they were able to build armies to rein their power against other kingdoms in an endless pursuit to concur the world, the world in which they claim god gave to them to rule upon.

Simple put I use this example; Imagine I hire 2 guys to steal stuff from your home while your gone, and if someone is there, I tell them to beat anyone up and rape them at will. I later go to your house after all this and pretend I'm in shock at your poor luck. I offer my protection, my service of security and If lets say if you happen to be on land that I was occupying or land I had stolen from someone else, I then charge you a wage, a tax to pay for future protection.

This example shows the false image Kings had put over "their" people in the past, as if they were cattle for the grazing. Mind you not all kings were so evil; they did claim power over all other man... Some even use to call it "Manifest Destiny."

Have Not Read It Yet? Be Ashamed!.......2006-12-01

Thomas Paine's Common Sense was the first "best-seller" on this side of the ocean. More importantly, it captured the mind and spirit of the Revolution in a brief, readable format. Common Sense is not so much a book as it is a great essay that you wish would not end. Knowing his audience well, Paine traces the origins of monarchy to Saul (not exactly God's choice for the children of Israel) and, for Britains, William the Conqueror ("a French Bastard" with "armed banditti"). With wit and sarcasm, he destroys the argument that anarchy is the only alternative to monarchy, blasts the notion that the moral development of a nation is dependent upon the presence of a king and humiliates colonists who cling to poor parent (England). Paine's approach to politics is entirely American and it is easy to see why George Washington called Common Sense his favorite book.

So You Wanna Start a Revolution?.......2006-08-22

Common Sense is a must read for all citizens of the USA and world seeking liberation from long established regimes. In this short, but well written published pre-revolutionary work, Paine makes the argument for a complete separation from England.

In a time when many were not sure separation was the correct option, Thomas Paine spells out 100 % revolution in clear English that provided the spark for the Declaration of Independence. It was the straw that broke the camel's back and there would be no turning back. A true piece of fine USA history.

Good Version .......2006-08-19

This is a reprint of Thomas Paine's Common Sense pamphlet originally published in February 1776 (Paine had also published a prior version). Dover does a nice job of maintaining the original stylistics, e.g. spelling, italics, etc. Potential buyers should note that this edition does not contain any contemporary commentary (which is often the case and sometimes helpful), but rather is limited to the original text.

This is an important piece of American historical writing in an accessible (font and binding) and inexpensive format. I recommend it to all readers interested in American history.

Common sense about Common Sense.......2006-08-02

Not a bad book, a bit of a challenge to read and that's comming from someone who is well versed in the literary field. I'm sure it makes good arguments, I'm just waiting until I can stay awake past the introduction. Still, though, I reccomend buying this book as it is a cornerstone of American history.

Average customer rating:

But 1 star for this misprint-riddled version from Cosimo
Good at showing how the bible has no appeal to authority
Good Spirit, lack of correct facts
All Hail Thomas Paine
Now THIS Is An Aplogetic For Deism and Rationalism!

The Age Of Reason
Thomas Paine
Manufacturer: Citadel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0806505494

Book Description

Thomas Paine was a brilliant man who played a vital role in the American Revolution of 1776. This was the last book he wrote, which centers almost entirely around Christianity. To Paine, it made sense to question everything in order to make valid answers possible. He puts forth many questions in this book regarding Christianity, confronting many beliefs with pure and rational reason.

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THESE books, beginning with Genesis and ending with Revelations, (which, by the bye, is a book of riddles that requires a revelation to explain it) are, we are told, the word of God. It is, therefore, proper for us to know who told us so, that we may know what credit to give to the report. The answer to this question is, that nobody can tell, except that we tell one another so.

Customer Reviews:

But 1 star for this misprint-riddled version from Cosimo.......2007-06-09

If Cosimo do employ a proof-reader, he or she ought to be sent for a drugs test, or investigated for being a fundamentalist Christian deliberately trying to sabotage this masterpiece, the first logical attack on Christianity's shaky beliefs. Or should I say, they should consider a lawsuit against the printers. Those were my thoughts as I went through the book. The text often stops in mid-sentence, where another one will start, and you have to search halfway down the page to find how the sentence before had ended. Then to the end of that paragraph, and back up half a page to where you left off. By then you've lost the flow of the sentence and have to repeat the procedure. The footnotes have been allowed to mix in with the main body of the text in a confusing manner the likes of which I have never seen in a book before. That's besides the host of other routine misprints which alone would have been worthy of criticism. Using 21st century technology, Cosimo have surely been beaten in the accuracy game by the publishers/printers of the 1795 original. Naturally, none of this is the fault of Thomas Paine, and the book itself is a great read, and surprisingly readable for a book from that era. Like some have pointed out though, later scientific discoveries, like the theory of evolution for example, or the 19th century archaeological discoveries of the Middle East which showed the origins of a number of classic biblical stories, may have led Paine to rethink some of his statements on the universe and existence of God, and refine his opinions. But what he worked out and argued alone, without the help of much source material, is much to be admired. That he could have done so in an age of incredible ignorance leaves one all the more astounded that over two centuries later there are still so many followers of this destructive, immoral and unethical religion which has blighted our planet for so long, when the source material which Paine would have died for to use in his arguments is now at our fingertips. So read the book, just not this Cosimo version.

Good at showing how the bible has no appeal to authority.......2007-05-17

Simply put, this book shows quite well how the authors, times, dates, and events that took place in the bible is ambiguous and contradictory. Therefore, the bible can not be trusted as an accurate account for the things written in it.

Furthermore, this book illustrates that the god of the bible is probably a human invention. We can say this because the bible is contradictory and its authors are unknown (which gives the bible no rational authority), and the god portrayed in the bible is a mad man (giving no moral authority).

The author then suggests that Deism, a belief that god is everything and looking to nature as ones account of him, is more rational approach to defining god.

Good Spirit, lack of correct facts.......2007-04-15

To be honest, I was disappointed by this book in many ways. I don't know whether his other writings were in the same style, and I didn't notice, or if it's just in this book, but he seems like he's trying to impress his reader with his grammar. Unfortunately, like so many people who use this tactic, he simply ends up looking ignorant. For example, at the end of the first paragraph in the Preface of the second part, he writes, " ...that the same danger was approaching myself." I have to admit, these sort of mistakes are the most annoying to me, but it's still inexcusable to use that sort of language to impress readers.

As he admits in the second part, he didn't have a copy of the Bible with him at the time he wrote. He seems to only try to shoot down Christianity, regardless of the actual merits of his accusations. For example, in the first part, he discusses the word "prophesy" meaning simply making poetry and uses a passage from Samuel about Saul to prove this point. Upon hearing this, I immediately looked into our Oxford English dictionary for its roots. Well, it turned out that poetry and prophesy did at one time mean the same thing, but the Greek "prophet" was one who directly spoke to God, so the common interpretation is correct. Paine, while he could certainly have researched this and definitely saw the need to, simply relied on the reader to take his word for it.

After I've said all of this, Paine, when not dealing with specific facts trying to denounce Christianity, certainly makes some very valid points, especially about the Bible being the perfect Word of God and Faith. His language and reasoning, in most parts, is certainly as passionate and persuasive as in his other works. If you're looking for some argument material to dispute your Christian buddy, definitely look here, but if you're looking for the truth, you may want to seek it somewhere else or take this with a grain of salt as far as the factual basis for some of his attacks on Christianity go.

All Hail Thomas Paine.......2007-03-21

To hold and read the same words that Thomas Jefferson so loved-- the same book that broke the religious shackles of Lincoln and Mark Twain-- is quite awe-inspiring.

This great work was not only a breath of fresh air from a stuffy era of dogma and magical thinking, it is still quite the oasis of reason even today as we deal with a delusional President taking orders from his imagined god to attack the wrong country.

All of you who are religious (Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Jew etc) do not need to argue with the non-religious advocates of this book. You need to argue amongst yourselves to decide whose "imaginary friend" is real. All of you have been engaged in putting each other to death-- essentially over what you believe happens AFTER death-- for thousands of years. Leave us out of it. We have no orders from imagined egomaniacs in the sky for an agenda of bigotry, bloody crusades, or missions to fly planes into buildings.

Odd that your "omnipotent" gods aren't strong enough to do all that killing for you.

Now THIS Is An Aplogetic For Deism and Rationalism!.......2006-12-15

The Age of Reason is very piercing, cutting through all of the BS, smoke and mirrors and pettifogging sophistries of "revealed" religion and its attendant lunacies. Thomas Paine was a powerful intellect. The Age Of Reason therefore remains, and will always remain, a classic. Follow along with him as he dissects and disassembles the bible and bible religion logically, rationally, and masterfully.

Others have tried to cover the same territory since the time of Paine, but none do it as well or in so short a space. If you wish to deprogram yourself from the Bible, I cannot think of a better place to start than with The Age Of Reason. This can be the start of real life for any bible-slave who will reach out to Thomas Paine for help, especially if you don't wish to become an atheist (I am not an atheist), but want a sane rational basis for belief in God. Paine wrote Age Of Reason for you, and this is his marvelous legacy. Five stars and two thumbs WAY up!

Read I WAS A TEENAGE JEHOVAH'S WITNESS and JEHOVAH UNMASKED for two of the wildest rides ever!

The Thomas Paine Reader (Penguin Classics)

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The Thomas Paine Reader (Penguin Classics)
Thomas Paine , Michael Foot , and Isaac Kramnick
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
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ASIN: 0140444963

The Age of Reason: Examination of the Prophecies

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Prophecies
A look at out-of-context prophecies.

The Age of Reason: Examination of the Prophecies
Thomas Paine
Manufacturer: American Atheist Press
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ASIN: 0910309701

Book Description

Until the publication of this annotated edition, Thomas Paine's third part of "The Age Of Reason" was extremely rare and almost unknown. Titled "Examination of the Prophecies," the book examines all the supposed prophecies of Jesus in the Old Testament alleged by the evangelists of the New Testament. With great wit and penetrating logic, Paine showed that not one of the Old Testament passages cited had anything to do with the Christian's would-be Messiah. Paine appears to have been the first writer in English to suggest that Jesus was not an historical figure.

Frank R. Zindler's marginal notes and commentary examine the Greek and Hebrew texts of the verses being discussed. They show that Paine, who knew no ancient languages and knew of none of the important biblical manuscripts that would be discovered after his death, was astonishingly correct in his critique.

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Prophecies.......2001-09-05

This book is a excellent antidote to books like "Evidence that Demands a Verdict" that fool unsuspecting readers into the validity of the Bible. Paine's work "Examination of Prophecies Age of Reason" examines one by one, each alledged prophecy and compares them to the Old Testament to determine if the texts where prophecies or not. It's a superb work on the NT but really belongs with a Christian, he needs to read it much more than a non-believer.

A look at out-of-context prophecies........2000-06-05

Many Christians cite Old Testament passages as prophecies of Jesus that appear in the New Testament. In this work, Thomas Paine exposes all of the so-called prophecies as either irrelevant or taken out of context from the original Old Testament passages. This is the Third Section of his masterwork "The Age Of Reason" which does not make all editions, due to its' content, yet it is probably the most vital section. This particular edition is made even all the more valued by the footnotes of American Atheist scholar and writer Frank Zindler. He does an excellent job in clarifying the Greek and Hebrew grammar problems and also in making certain chronologies clearer. This is an excellent book for the debunker of Biblical claims.

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Efficiencies of Democracy
Considered a founding father of democracy and egalitarianism.
Paine's prescient screed against authoritarian precedent
Historically important, but can't stand on its own.
Defender of Self Government

Rights of Man
Thomas Paine
Manufacturer: Adamant Media Corporation
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0543954617
Release Date: 2000-11-29

Book Description

One of Paine's greatest and most widely read works, considered a classic statement of faith in democracy and egalitarianism, defends the early events of the French Revolution, supports social security for workers, public employment for those in need of work, abolition of laws limiting wages, and other social reforms.

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No individual's writing better exemplifies this transformation of the language of social and political change than that of Thomas Paine (1737-1809). And no individual has a better claim to be the world's first international revolutionary. His writings bear witness to his revolutionary activities, and provide us with a detailed picture of the evolving understanding of social and political change at the end of the eighteenth century.

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Efficiencies of Democracy.......2007-02-05

The book is a response to arguments made by Edmond Burke that were critical to the constitution and behavior that resulted from the French revolution. Edmond Burke believed in the English constitution and the structure of the government in Great Britain. Mr. Paine argued the British did not have a constitution, the government was tyrannical, not efficient, a poor economic system, and not democratic. The sporadic alterations in the general design of the English government was not designed by the people voted on by the population in Great Britain, so it cannot be considered a constitution. The purpose of this work is to make an argument why the constitution set up by the French revolution is superior to the pre-Revolutionary French government and the current British government at the time of publication. No constitution cannot be established but through referendum.

Thomas Paine argues that the equality of man is established by his very nature. His arguments come from the bible and other religious resources. The rationale for the rights from man come from God, but the author does not believe an individual religion has a monopoly on the truth. Pain believed in freedom of association and the organization of individuals in the making a political argument. He believed people of opposing thoughts could come to accommodation while they walked this earth. Anyhow he believed in the arguments of different world views could be made to come to the conclusion all men equal in his natural state.

Paine argued government is formed either through Superstition (Religious manipulation) Power (war, conquering a people) and those that arise out of society (constitutional government). Constitution must occur before the government. The United States and France were his examples of governments coming from society. Governments that exist out of power or superstition produce a hereditary government or government ruled by a certain association not from the population or society. Edmond Burke defended the nobility. Mr. Paine made a distinction between government privileges inherited based on birth and the wealth obtained through inheritance. Titles are nicknames of legal sanction to have authority over others in the population. Consequence is not just unfairness, but a less competent government and the lack of fairness in governmental decisions. Distinction between people must be determined by the person's utility. Does the person improve society by holding a specific position of trust. The sovereign and legislators should be determined by the vote. Transmission of ideas through debate will improve the government. Debate is formed through association. People should be encouraged form into groups in order to form alliance to their point across. Society and Civilization, the wants of the people can be pursued more efficiently when a structure exists where ideas may be debated, thoughts learned, and more may seek participation. Some men have abilities that other do not posses. Society therefore the individual function better under structure but that does not mean all governments are equally as effective. Thomas Paine did not want the rights of a select few chosen through heredity protected at the expense of others. Men seek a fair government where their concerns are heard.

Thomas Paine believed in the Universal Right of Conscience. Man does not worship man, but God. The mortal worships the immortal. Government should not presume or regulate how man worships the immortal neither should government define who the immortal is. - If man is free to judge his own faith his beliefs will hold what is to be true. - If man is free to judge another's faith he will hold or believe the idea of another God to be false. Thomas Pain makes the argument government corrupts religion. I have no argument here. But when he argues that government is the cause of religious intolerance that argument is absurd.

The author saw the forces of history on the side democracy. Thomas Paine saw democracy as a major factor in developing the free enterprise system. He saw the United State as a major example of democracy and prosperity. Man was set free to go after wealth in so doing creating more wealth. He presumed France would soon follow the United States. Thomas Paine argued government sanctioned Charters (monopolies for the Aristocrats ) hindering ingenuity and the betterment of man. The more efficient the trade between people and nations the more wealth is produced.

The author goes into great length to argue for less regressive taxes. Taxes on products hit the poor the hardest and increase the need for more in the population to receive aid to be able to survive. Thomas Paine was an advocate of a more progressive tax. He also argued for more government to those in aid by taking returns of investments and taxes on the wealthy.

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Considered a founding father of democracy and egalitarianism........2006-12-12

This book was written in 1790 and 91. It was written in two parts. It started out as a rebuttal to Edmund Burke's book on the French Revolution, but as it developed Paine ended up discussing the whole aspect of democracy and goes in quite detail into the ills of a monarchial government. Paine was an ex-patriot Englishman who lived for a time in the United States. His time there coincided with the American Revolution, and Paine was a contemporary of George Washington and Ben Franklin. Paine was an idealist and that comes out clear in this important work. He also made a lot of enemies in England with his radical viewpoints. His was not an easy life, but he certainly lived at a crucial time in world history, and his viewpoints are actually quite valid in some respects even today. Not an easy book to read, but an important work to make the effort to do so.

Paine's prescient screed against authoritarian precedent.......2004-05-12

"Rights of Man" (1791-92) is Thomas Paine's famous response to Edmund Burke's "Reflections on the Revolution of France" (1790). Although it helps have read Burke's essay, a general background is sufficient to understand and appreciate Paine's basic and groundbreaking arguments.

Paine and Burke were originally allies; Burke not only supported self-rule for the American colonies, he also supported the emancipation of the House of Commons from monarchical control and the independence of both Ireland and India. Many of his allies, then, were bewildered by his fervent opposition to the French Revolution; Burke drew the line between territorial autonomy from a distant or aloof government and the total overthrow of existing monarchies and institutions. For Burke, humankind's real enemies were drastic change and "unsocial, uncivil, unconnected chaos," and he proved himself a staunch defender of the status quo, of precedent, and of gradual reform.

Jerry Muller, in his recent--and superb--book "The Mind and the Market" asserts that Burke's denunciation of the French revolution is "the single most influential work of conservative thought published from his day to ours." (This, of course, depends on what one means by "conservative.") Yet Muller and likeminded historians inevitably cherry-pick Burke's more attractive economic and philosophical arguments and foreground Burke's critique, in Muller's words, "of the revolutionary mentality that attempts to create entirely new structures on the basis of rational, abstract principles." (Muller doesn't even mention Paine, much less the example of the United States.) Such a focus inevitably sidesteps Burke's brief for the supremacy of European monarchical institutions and of the landed aristocracy. And that's where Paine comes in.

With his usual acerbic wit and extravagant rhetoric, Paine, in the first part of his treatise, makes mincemeat out of Burke's sillier statements. For example, he finds especially unspeakable Burke's claim that that "the English nation did, at the time of the [1688] Revolution, most solemnly renounce and abdicate [the right of self-rule], for themselves, and for all their posterity for ever." Paine correctly challenges the primacy of a decision made by members of that generation over desires of other generations, questions the right of any generation to surrender the rights of their descendants, and notes that "government is for the living, and not for the dead, it is the living only that has any right in it."

He also chastises the English for a system of hereditary government that virtually guarantees unfettered rule by children, madmen, idiots, and foreign-born pretenders (and he certainly has plenty of examples from which to choose), many of whom led their realms into chaos and terror without the help of radical revolutionaries. And Paine argues that wars would cease with the promotion of democracy and the cessation of the selfish interests of absolutists. His critics rightly respond that the rise of democratic institutions has hardly stopped wars, although one might pose the counterargument that, relatively speaking, democratic governments go to war with each other much less frequently.

In the second part, Paine proposes a radical agenda for an overhaul of the British government. Although his anecdotally based statistics and figures must be viewed with skepticism and a few laughs, the prescience of his proposals is startling: poverty relief, social security, public education, maternity care, homeless shelters, workfare, veteran's benefits, and progressive taxation. His is the agenda of the idealist: "When it shall be said in any country in the world, my poor are happy; neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them; my jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars; the aged are not in want, the taxes are not oppressive . . . when these things can be said, then may that country boast its constitution and its government."

Paine, of course, had the nascent United States to cite in support of his proposals, but he and Burke were debating these matters before the onset of the Jacobin Reign of Terror, which dismayed Paine and seems to have realized Burke's worst fears. Yet, throughout history, for every Robespierre or Lenin, one can find a Mandela or a Walesa; monarchies too were no strangers to upheaval. Paine hardly argued for "mob rule" or even "majority rule"; the French Revolution failed in part because it violated the fundamental tenet that the citizens of each nation have a right to choose whatever rule they please, even "a bad or defective government, . . . so long as the majority to not impose conditions on the minority, different to what they impose on themselves"--a caveat we all should take to heart in today's political climate.

Historically important, but can't stand on its own........2002-06-07

This book is important for the historian who wishes to get a glimpse into the workings of the mind of an important figure in American Revolutionary history, but it doesn't stand on its own. It is written almost entirely as a response to Edmund Burke's "Reflections on the Revolution in France", so I would not recommend reading this one until and unless one has read that one. Otherwise, it is impossible to judge the fairness of the rebuttals of Burke's points, as one only sees them through Paine's perspective, and Paine is far from a fair and impartial debater; he misses no opportunity to belittle his opponent's arguments, and even his opponent himself. I would not be at all surprised to discover that he gives an inaccurate picture of what Burke had to say, particularly given that history speaks rather better of Burke's misgivings than of Paine's panegyrics. Both books were written before the Reign of Terror that resulted from the revolution in 1793; the second part of this book came out in early 1792. Also, history shows us just how silly some of Paine's claims for a Republican, representative government are: 200+ years of representative government in the US have hardly banished wars, or the high taxes associated with them, even though the world as a whole is far more democratic than it was at his time. He makes some good points, and certainly it is hard to stand up against him in favor of hereditary monarchy, but it is apparent that he failed to see that not ALL "democratic" movements were necessarily benificent, even if it would be hard to have much sympathy for the autocratic regime that they overthrow.

Defender of Self Government.......2001-05-21

Thomas Paine's "Rights of Man" is truly a classic defense of self government and reprsentative republicanism. Paine copmletely demolishes Edmund Burke's defense of aristocracy and monarchy as outmoded and absurd institiutions. Paine shows the immorality of monarchy and the plunder that it commits on it's own people through high taxes,unjust property laws,and priveleges for the nobility. Paine shows the virtues a representative system has over the monarchial form. He denounces aristocracy and monarchy as "frauds" and based upon tyranny. The first review by Will Murphy critsizing Paine as a sort of statist is way off the mark. Paine did recommend many ideals of the welfare state. It must be remembered he was speaking to an age where a large wealthy aristocracy ruled alongside the monarch, living in luxury off the high taxes drained from the middle, lower and working classes. Paine was one of the formost defenders of freethought in religion,speech, and ideas.To imply Paine was a sort of 18th century fascist is utterly absurd and ahistorical. Paine was not an enemy of property, just an enemy of aristocracy,who in his day did not obtain property by hard work. Usually property rights in monarchial nations were written to favor the wealthy and powerful, and grant them priveleges at the expense of the populace. Paine completely destroys the ideal that a chosen few were meant or ordained by God to rule. If you love freedom, you can't go wrong with the "Rights of Man".

Rights of Man (Collector's Edition (The 100 Greatest Books Ever Written))

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Rights of Man (Collector's Edition (The 100 Greatest Books Ever Written))
Thomas Paine
Manufacturer: The Easton Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000CNPASC

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The 100 Greatest Books Ever Written COLLECTOR'S EDITION (Bound in genuine leather).

Paine: Political Writings (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)

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Paine: Political Writings (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)
Thomas Paine
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521667992

Book Description

Thomas Paine was arguably the single most influential political writer during the American and French Revolutions. For this revised and updated edition the distinguished intellectual historian Bruce Kuklick brings together an expanded collection of the classic Paine texts--Common Sense, Rights of Man, and The Age of Reason--as well as the first of Paine's papers on The Crisis of 1776. A brief chronology, updated notes for further reading, and a succinct and lucid introduction to the principal themes of each text give further help to the student reader.

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Interesting historical perspective
What it means to be a "patriot."

Common Sense (Penguin Great Ideas)
Thomas Paine
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0143036254

Customer Reviews:

Interesting historical perspective.......2007-04-07

This little book is an easy way to get a brief glimpse of the time of the American Revolution, the way it sounded and felt to people then.

PROS: It's a primary source, more direct than a history book, yet it's short and easy to read. Of course it's an emotional propaganda piece (for the American side, against the English king) and there are many holes in Paine's arguments, but that's part of the fun of reading a primary source -- you can analyze for yourself. Also, this little edition is nicely printed with a lovely cover.

CONS: A few historical endnotes on some of the contemporary references would have been nice; this edition is purely the original text.

What it means to be a "patriot.".......2006-03-30

"The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind" (p. 4).

This is the incendiary political pamphlet that resulted in the United States, and should be required reading for anyone interested in what it means to be an American patriot. American Revolutionary, Thomas Paine (1737-1809), demonstrated the pen is mightier than the sword with his revolution call, COMMON SENSE (1776) which, through brilliantly-reasoned argument, demanded American independence from corrupt British rule and cronyism. Paine was a visionary, a radical, a revolutionary, and a true American patriot. (It should be noted that this review refers to the 2005 Penguin Great Ideas edition of COMMON SENSE.)

G. Merritt

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