In "The Age of Reason" Thomas Paine, argues for the philosophical position of Deism. It follows in the tradition of eighteenth-century British deism, and challenges institutionalized religion and the legitimacy of the Bible. Paine's work inspired and guided many free thinkers.

Thomas Paine (1737-1809) was an English-American political activist, philosopher, political theorist, and revolutionary. One of the Founding Fathers of the United States, he authored the two most influential pamphlets of the revolutionary era, Common Sense and The Rights of Men.