The Age of Reason, published in two parts in 1794 and 1795, is Thomas Paine's popularisation of deist argument, written in the plain, widely accessible style that had already made his political pamphleteering influential in America, Britain and France. Paine argued for belief in a single creator known through reason and the natural world while attacking organised churches, scripture and clerical authority in sharper and more polemical terms than earlier English deists such as Herbert of Cherbury had used, and the book reached a far wider popular readership than the more academic deist writing of the previous century. It provoked strong backlash on both sides of the Atlantic and is widely credited with bringing deist argument to a mass audience beyond the educated elite the earlier English deists had chiefly written for.
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Origins
Era of Composition Attributed Author / Compiler Structure
StructureTwo parts, published separately in 1794 and 1795, the first written as Paine anticipated arrest during the French Terror and the second completed following his release from imprisonment. 1 Status
Canonical Status Text
Literary Form The Age of Reason
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This source names Americas directly: "The Age of Reason, published in two parts in 1794 and 1795, is Thomas Paine's popularisation of deist argument, written in the plain, widely accessible style that had already made his political..."
Source The Oxford Dictionary of World ReligionsJohn Bowker (ed.)
This source names France directly: "influential in America, Britain and France."
Source The Oxford Dictionary of World ReligionsJohn Bowker (ed.)
Attributed To
Source The Age of Reason (Wikipedia)
Authored By
The Age of Reason was written by Thomas Paine, published in three parts beginning in 1794.
Belongs to Tradition
Deism's most widely read popularisation.
Source The Oxford Dictionary of World ReligionsJohn Bowker (ed.)
In Language
Originates in Language
Source The Oxford Dictionary of World ReligionsJohn Bowker (ed.)
Sources
1. The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
John Bowker (ed.), Oxford University Press, 1997Originates in Language: English, Stored language property on this entity, cited to this source: englishView the Source The Age of Reason (Wikipedia)
Attributed To: Thomas Paine, Lead sectionQuote, Attributed To: Thomas Paine, Lead section
The Age of Reason; Being an Investigation of True and Fabulous Theology is a work by English and American political activist Thomas Paine, arguing for the philosophical position of deism.
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