Thomas Paine blog

Was Thomas Paine's The Age of Reason, the beginnings of what Scientology is today?

Thomas Paine was born in Thetford, England on January 29, 1737.  His father was Quaker and his mother was Anglican.  In 1774, Paine met Benjamin Franklin in London.  Franklin helped Paine emigrate to Philadelphia.  His career turned to journalism and Paine became a revolutionary propagandist.  He published Common Sense in 1776.  He produced The Crisis (1776-1783), which helped inspire the American Revolutionary Army.  Paine later returned to Europe to purse other ventures instead of continuing to help the Revolutionary cause.  In 1791-1792, he wrote The Rights of Man in response to criticism of the French Revolution.  This work caused Paine to be labeled an outlaw in England for his anti-monarchist views.  To avoid being arrested, he fled to France to join the National Convention [http://www.ushistory.org/PAINE/].

In 1793, Paine was imprisoned in France for not endorsing the execution of Louis XVI.  It was during this imprisonment, he wrote and distributed the first part of what was to become his most famous work at the time, The Age of Reason.  A deist manifesto to the core, Paine acknowledged his debt to Newton and declared that nature was the only form of divine revelation [http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/paine.html].

While reading this excerpt from The Age of Reason, Paine's writings appear similar to the beliefs of present day Scientologists.

          It is a fraud of the Christian system to call the sciences human inventions; it is only the
          application of them that is human.  Every science has for its basis a system of principles
          as fixed and unalterable as those by which the universe is regulated and governed (646).

          In fine, it is the soul of science.  It is an eternal truth; it contains the mathematical
          demonstration of which man speaks, and the extent of its uses are unknown (647).

          It is the structure of the universe that has taught this knowledge to man.  That structure
          is an ever- existing exhibition of every principle upon which every part of mathematical
          science is founded.  The offspring of this science is mechanics; for mechanics is no other
          than the principles of science applied practically (647, 648).

          The Almighty lecturer, by displaying the principles of science in the structure of the
          universe, has invited man to study and to imitation.  It is as if He had said......
          "I have made an earth for man to dwell upon, and I have rendered the starry heavens
          visible, to teach him science and the arts.  He can now provide for his own comfort, and
           learn from my munificence to all, to be kind to each other" (648).

          I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church,
          nor by any church that I know of.  My own mind is my own church.  All national
          institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other
          than human inventions set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power
          and profit (643).

Scientology considers the belief in a Supreme Being as something personal and offers no specific dogma.  The nature of the Supreme Being is revealed personally through each individual as he/she becomes more conscious and spiritually aware.  All humans are immortal spiritual beings capable of realizing a nearly godlike state through Scientology practice.  The path to salvation, or enlightenment, includes achieving states of increasingly greater mental awareness.  The Church of Scientology considers itself a religion because of its focus on the soul and spiritual awareness.  L. Ron Hubbard was the founder of Scientology.  His personal research concluded that a human is made up of three parts:  the body, the mind, and the soul.  Each individual has the capacity to reach a higher plain through intense study of oneself through the use of the sciences [Scientology.org/What_Is_Scientology] [www.religioustolerance.org/scientol.htm].

"These are the times that try men's souls."  This simple quotation from Thomas Paine's The Crisis not only described the beginning of the American Revolution, but also the life of Paine himself.  Throughout most of his life, his writings inspired passion, but also brought him great criticism.  But his radical views on religion would destroy his success [http://www.ushistory.org/PAINE/].

Franklin, W., Gura, P.F., Krupat, A. The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Vol A.  W.W.  Norton & Company, Inc.  New York, NY, 2007.

Disclaimer:  The author of this blog is a Christian.  This blog is not intended as advertisement for Scientology
                   as a religion.