Quiz: The Age of Reason

10 questions drawn at random. Score 80% for a silver medal.

1. Which renamings does Paine use to illustrate his argument about the place-name Dan? Lutetia to Paris, and Londinium to London New Amsterdam to New York, and Havre-de-Grace to Havre Marat Philadelphia to Liberty, and Versailles to Berceau Boston to Shawmut, and Calais to Port-Égalité
2. On what idea does Paine say the doctrine of redemption is based? Natural law, binding on God himself Moral justice, which punishes only the guilty person Divine mercy, which forgives freely without any payment Pecuniary justice, like a debt another person can pay
3. To what does Paine attribute his escape from the accusation Robespierre had planned? The protest of the American minister in Paris His secret transfer to another prison The intervention of the prison keeper Benoit A severe fever that left him near death in prison
4. What does Paine say Elisha’s prophecy to the three kings amounted to? Predicting the defeat of Moab within forty days of battle Warning them that the king of Israel would die in the battle Promising rain if they first sacrificed a burnt offering to the Lord To dig ditches for water, as any countryman might
5. What natural example does Paine offer, against Paul, as evidence for a future life? The caterpillar changing into a butterfly The phoenix rising again from its own ashes The snake shedding its skin and renewing itself The grain of wheat dying and sprouting
6. Why, according to Paine, could Psalm 137 not have been written by David? It is written in a late Greek dialect unknown in David’s time It is written in Greek It contradicts David’s own account of his reign in the books of Samuel It commemorates the Babylonian captivity, centuries after David
7. To what courtroom situation does Paine compare the gospel accounts of the empty tomb? Witnesses giving contradictory evidence for an alibi A prosecutor whose case rests on a single, interested witness A judge ruling on a disputed will A jury unable to reach a verdict on the evidence given
8. Having rejected the creeds of every church, what does Paine say is his church? The creation His own mind The French Republic The Society of Friends
9. Why does Paine deny that the end of Isaiah 44 and the start of Isaiah 45 were written by Isaiah? They praise Cyrus, whose decree came about 162 years after Isaiah’s death They are written in Aramaic They mention the destruction of the Second Temple They quote the book of Ezra word for word
10. Which disciple does Paine cite as refusing to believe in the resurrection without proof? John Bartholomew Judas Thomas

0 of 10 answered