The Age of Reason · Chapter
IX: In What the True Revelation Consists explained
Paine argues that the true word of God is not found in scripture but in the creation itself, which speaks a universal language accessible to all people, independent of human languages and translations.
What happens
Paine argues that the true word of God is not found in scripture but in the creation itself, which speaks a universal language accessible to all people, independent of human languages and translations. He contends that human language is local and changeable, incapable of serving as a means of universal revelation, and that the creation alone reveals God's power, wisdom, munificence, and mercy.
Themes in this chapter
Deism and Natural Theology
Paine asserts that the creation itself is the true word of God, revealing divine attributes without need for scripture.
Critique of Organized Religion
Paine criticizes the idea that Jesus Christ could have communicated a universal message given linguistic diversity and the absence of printing.
Characters to notice
- Thomas Paine
Author and speaker, presenting his deist argument that creation is the true revelation.
- Jesus Christ
Mentioned as a figure whose mission to publish glad tidings to all nations is inconsistent with the diversity of languages and the lack of printing.
Key passages
“The word of God is the creation we behold : And it is in this word , which no human invention can counterfeit or alter, that God speaketh universally to man.”
The true revelation of God is the natural world, which cannot be forged or changed and communicates directly to all humanity.
Paine's central thesis that creation is the universal and incorruptible word of God.
“It is only in the creation that all our ideas and conceptions of a word of God can unite. The Creation speaketh an universal language, independently of human speech or human language, multiplied and various as they be.”
Only through observing the natural world can we form a unified understanding of God, as nature communicates in a way that transcends all human languages.
Paine emphasizes the universality and accessibility of natural revelation.