Thomas Paine lived from 1737-1809. He had many roles, including corset maker, inventor, radical, intellectual, author, and a radical. He was one of the founding fathers of the United States. He wrote the all time most American book and wrote an influential pamphlet series, "Common Sense". Thomas Paine was most famous for his writings and propaganda, but I decided to write about something a little different. As I was reading through information about Paine, I came across a word I wasn't familiar with: Deism. As I continued reading, I became curious as to why Thomas Paine chose to believe in Deism, especially since there were so many Christian religious views all around him. I wanted to know what made Deism so different, and why he was led away from his father's Quaker views.
Deism is the belief that observation of the natural world can determine that the universe is the product of an all powerful creator. Deistic viewpoints emerged during the scientific revolution and had a somewhat powerful influence during the eighteenth century enlightenment. The belief of Deism is that the world runs according to the Laws of Nature, and that God does not intervene with with the functioning of the world in any way. Human beings can only know God through the observation of nature, Deism rejects all religions based on books who claim to contain the revealed word of God, and they opposed any reported miracles or prophecies. Some Deists were mistaken for being Christian, because they would often speak of God. The God they were speaking of was much different from the God the Christians worshiped.
http://www.religionpaine.org/index.html
Most Deists saw the religions of their day as corruptions should be, and felt that religion was being corrupted by priests who had manipulated it for their own personal gain. These Deism believers thought that the universe was a machine that was set in motion by a creator, who doesn't intervene with the natural world. There is no complete agreement as to what happens in the after life, and many Deists have their own opinions. http://www.deism.com/
Below is a link to a video that describes Deism in great detail!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVqP3d3sNQw
Joseph Paine, Thomas's father, was a Quaker. Quaker beliefs are almost opposite of Deistic beliefs, because Quakers emphasized a personal relationship with Christ and believed in the Bible. There is no written reason in research that gives a specific event which caused Paine to turn to Deism, but he was a very curious, inquisitive person who was interested in science. In many of his writings, Paine told of his religious opinions and Deistic beliefs, and sometimes mocked Christians. He became very unpopular at one point for being so outspoken, and only six people attended his funeral. Thomas Paine's unpopularity continued even after death, when no Christian church would receive his body for burial, so his remains were buried under a walnut tree on his farm.
http://www.tripatini.com/profiles/blogs/the-death-of-thomas-paine
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