Page "The Age of Reason" Paragraph 15
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Paine also attacks religious institutions, indicting priests for their lust for power and wealth and the Church's opposition to scientific investigation.
He presents the history of Christianity as one of corruption and oppression.
Paine criticizes the tyrannical actions of the Church as he had those of governments in the Rights of Man and Common Sense, stating that " the Christian theory is little else than the idolatry of the ancient Mythologists, accommodated to the purposes of power and revenue.
" This kind of attack distinguishes Paine's book from other deistic works, which were less interested in challenging social and political hierarchies.
He argues that the Church and the State are a single corrupt institution which does not act in the best interests of the people — both must be radically altered:
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