[WackySam]

Paine’s response to the Adams letter is brilliant.

IMHO, The Age of Reason is a masterfully written “Declaration of Independence” from organized religion. To me, no less important than the United States Declaration of Independence.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Sam Adams, I think, was much more religious than John Adams was. That being said, Paine was quite the debater for his case as well, certainly far more eloquent than the Christopher Hitchenses or Richard Dawkinses of our day. Reading these private letters invites us into the hearts and minds of our founders and all the spiritual questions they wrestled with. I appreciate learning from their soul-searching journeys because the men and women of that time period (believers and non believers alike) did not suffer from the shallow, provincial, and petty thinking which unfortunately characterizes our era and is further perpetuated by our lacking education system. Reading our founders' diaries, letters, and essays (rather than analyzing documents such as the Declaration of Independence or US Constitution) would clear up a lot of over-simplification of the "Is America a Christian or Secular Nation?" debate that pervades academic and public discourse today. More importantly, it reveals to us the kind of intellectual and moral fortitude it takes to "secure the blessings of liberty" for our generation and beyond..

[Shark24]

I do love the respectful attitude between Adams and Paine. Chesterton (among other Christian apologists) was similar with his critics. Would be great to see the same attitude on some of the threads here. As for Paine, this Catholic boy loved his “Age of Reason” but still would be happy to defend the Faith. My first thought experiment would be to bring ol Tom forward in time and see what he thinks of our own “age of reason” Happy 4th everyone!