His criticism of religion in The Age of Reason was because he saw, “the exceeding probability that a revolution in the system of government would be followed by a revolution in the system of religion.” Paine questioned systems of religion and government that had been upheld for centuries, something that a man of his time would not even consider. In The Age of Reason, he argued that, “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.” This is a shocking statement, even for people of today’s time, but it set the tone for questions about the relationship between church and state. Paine knew that colonists didn’t want to be “enslaved” to their government, which they also believed shouldn’t “monopolize power and profit,” so why would this be any different for religion? Not only that, but if church and state weren’t separated, wouldn’t government be more likely to become corrupt due to this monopolization? After reading Paine’s w¬ork it’s easy to see how these questions may come up, as both church and state are “human inventions” prone to corruption. Paine set out to uncover this corruption and even contradictions in religion, not to condemn believers, but to educate and aide them to be better…