Thomas Paine and the religion of nature

Abstract

Thomas Paine's reputation as a political thinker rests chiefly on the two books that influenced the American and French revolutions: Common Sense and Rights of Man. But political scientist Jack Fruchtman draws on all of Paine's writings to establish that the key to his political thinking is his religious understanding of nature. For Paine, the study of nature gave humans access to the mind of God - revealing the right social, political and economic relations necessary to a stable nation. In this book, Fruchtman explains how Paine constructed a rationale for political revolution based on his theory of nature. Paine believed that human beings had a natural ability to reflect God's inventive creativity. Although they could never achieve God's perfection, people could continually enhance human life by improving their inventions. They could make better candles and build stronger bridges; they could create sound economies and establish democratic constitutions. When Paine proposed that political revolution was just such an invention, he advanced a powerful justification for eliminating the evil kings and corrupt aristocrats who seemed to threaten the people's very humanity. By re-examining Paine's language, imagery and underlying beliefs, Fruchtman offers a portrait of a revolutionary writer who relied on nature and nature's God in everything he said and did.