March 29, 2024

Thomas Paine and “Common Sense”

Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense in 1776. It is not anti-Christian, as some of his later writings are. For example, here is something Paine wrote in Common Sense:

“But where says some is the King of America? I’ll tell you Friend, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like the Royal Brute of Britain. Yet that we may not appear to be defective even in earthly honors, let a day be solemnly set apart for proclaiming the charter; let it be brought forth placed on the divine law, the word of God; let a crown be placed thereon, by which the world may know, that so far as we approve of monarchy, that in America the law is king.”

Of course, Paine lost his faith and wrote some anti-Christian screeds, such as The Age of Reason.