"Though it is not a direct article of the Christian system that this world that we inhabit is the whole of the habitable Creation, yet it is so worked up therewith, from what is called the Mosaic account of the creation, the story of Eve and the apple, and the counterpart of that story, the death of the Son of God, that to believe otherwise, that is, to believe that God created a plurality of worlds, at least as numerous as what we call stars, renders the christian system of faith at once little and ridiculous; and scatters it in the mind like feathers in the air."

— Paine, Thomas (1737-1809)


Place of Publication
Paris Printed by Barrois, London: Sold by D. I. Eaton
Publisher
Barrois
Date
1794
Metaphor
"Though it is not a direct article of the Christian system that this world that we inhabit is the whole of the habitable Creation, yet it is so worked up therewith, from what is called the Mosaic account of the creation, the story of Eve and the apple, and the counterpart of that story, the death of the Son of God, that to believe otherwise, that is, to believe that God created a plurality of worlds, at least as numerous as what we call stars, renders the christian system of faith at once little and ridiculous; and scatters it in the mind like feathers in the air."
Metaphor in Context
Though it is not a direct article of the Christian system that this world that we inhabit is the whole of the habitable Creation, yet it is so worked up therewith, from what is called the Mosaic account of the creation, the story of Eve and the apple, and the counterpart of that story, the death of the Son of God, that to believe otherwise, that is, to believe that God created a plurality of worlds, at least as numerous as what we call stars, renders the christian system of faith at once little and ridiculous; and scatters it in the mind like feathers in the air. The two beliefs cannot be held together in the same mind; and he who thinks that he believes both, has thought but little of either.
(p. 437)
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason; Being an Investigation of True and Fabulous Theology. (Paris: Printed by Barrois, London: Sold by D. I. Eaton, 1794). <Link to Liberty Fund's Online Library of Liberty>
Date of Entry
05/19/2011

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.