Who is Thomas Paine? The Thomas Paine biography on “Bio True Story” website says, “Thomas Paine was an influential 18^th-century writer of essays and pamphlets.” Thomas Paine was boring in England in 1737. Thomas received very little education as a child. As he grew up, he learned how to read and write. At the age of thirteen, Thomas Paine began to work. His first job was with his dad as a corset maker. Thomas picked up another job as an officer of the excise. In 1760, Thomas experienced a lot of pain in his life. He lost his wife and his child in childbirth plus he lost his business as a corset maker. With all the pain and problems going on is Thomas’s life, he decides to speak his mind about his job in an article called “The Case of the Officers of Excise.” This was an article talking about Thomas taking defense on higher pay for excise officers. This article got Thomas fired from his job but it also lead to other great writings of Thomas Paine.

http://www.biography.com/people/thomas-paine-9431951?page=1

http://www.biography.com/imported/images/Biography/Images/Profiles/P/Thomas-Paine-9431951-1-402.jpg

After doing my research on Thomas Pain I asked myself, what makes Thomas Paine relevant today? There are plenty of things that make Thomas Paine relevant today but the one thing that stood out to me the most is how he related to the first amendment. The “Word Net” website says that the first amendment is “an amendment to the Constitution of the United States guaranteeing the right of free expression; includes freedom of assembly and freedom of the press and freedom of religion and freedom of speech.” Thomas Paine was a very opinionated man when it came to writing. I feel like he expressed the first amendment very well with his work. For example, in his pamphlet titled “The Age of Reason,” Thomas talked about the place of religion in the society. This pamphlet relates to the first amendment because it expresses the freedom of religion. The first amendment also shows in “Rights of Man” and his most popular work titled “Common Sense.” “Common Sense” was about Thomas’s views and opinion on why America should be free from British rule. A lot of political people didn’t like it but the common people loved it. Some reports say that “Common Sense” sold as may copies as the Bible. I think that is any amazing achievement.

http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=first%20amendment

http://www.biography.com/people/thomas-paine-9431951?page=1 (Common Sense)

Is there Paine in us today? Yes, I think a lot of people relate to Thomas Paine today. People today still express the first amendment when they want their opinions or views to be heard publicly. Instead of people trying to write books or pamphlets to be heard, they use the internet. The internet is the best way for people to talk about their views and opinions because plenty of people use it. This is how bloggers, writers, and news reporters make themselves well known today. For example, a economic professor at Pepperdine University named Gary Galles wants to give his view on the freedom of association so he used the internet. Cary believes the Constitution protects the freedom of association because it relates to freedom of assembly, which is in the first amendment. If people don’t feel comfortable about writing on the internet, then they will make a video. This is why YouTube is popular. I believe Thomas Paine made a huge mark in history for opinionated writers, bloggers, and reports.

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=22783

(FirstAmendmentMike Views and Opinion of Today)

Thomas Paine was a very open and opinionated writer who made himself a part of American history. Thomas Paine is still relevant today because of the first amendment. The first amendment gives people the right of freedom of expression, assembly, the press, religion, and of speech. I believe there is a little bit of Thomas Paine in everyone because everybody has their own opinions. This is why bloggers, writers, and reporters are important when it comes to speaking their mind on the internet. After writing this blog about Thomas Paine, I feel like it is okay to speak your mind because somebody may feel the same way as me.

Jonathan Edwards

In American Literature, I had to read a story and sermon. The story was called “Personal Narrative” and the sermon was called “Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God.” This story and sermon was written by a man named Jonathan Edwards. Jonathan Edwards was born on October 5, 1703 in East Windsor, Connecticut. Jonathan was raised by two Christian parents. When Jonathan became older, he went off to college. The college he attended was called Yale University. Jonathan graduated from Yale at the age of sixteen. He was the first of his graduation class. Jonathan was very educated about religion and the ways of the Bible so he seeks to become a pastor. In 1726, Jonathan became a pastor in Northampton, Massachusetts. Jonathan wasn’t the average pastor during that time. Jonathan had different views on the Enlightment. He felt like people should make their own decision on what they believe instead of the church making it for them. This lead to the sermon titled “Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God.” Jonathan sermons started to spread quickly. This was the beginning of the Great Awakening. Like it says on the Great Awakening website, “The Great Awakening was a spiritual renewal that swept the American Colonies, particularly New England, during the first half of the 18^th Century. Certain Christians began to disassociate themselves with the established approach to worship at the time which had lead to a general sense of complacency among believers, and instead they apoted an approach which was Characterized by great fervor and emotion in prayer.” After reading about the Great Awakening I began to wonder, what was the major effect of the Great Awakening?

 http://www.great-awakening.com/?page_id=12

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/Jonathan_Edwards.jpg/220px-Jonathan_Edwards.jpg 

http://mrdonnelly.tripod.com/pernarr.html

Religious Freedom

The major effect that I noticed during the Great Awakening was the religious freedom. People during that time didn’t make the own decision on what church they wanted to go to or how to deal with their sins. The church, The pastor of the church, made that decision for them Jonathan Edwards’s sermon showed Christians that they had the freedom to believe in what Christ wanted them to do and how to deal with their own sins. This led to revivalism during the Great Awakening. The online Meriam-Webster dictionary says revivalism means, “the spirit or methods characteristic of religious revivals.” Revivalism played a major role in Christian’s lives during the Great Awakening. The “From Death to Life” website says, “Revivalism emphasized the appeal to the emotions as well as to the intellect. It believed that one’s Christian life begins with one’s response to gospel’s call for repentance and spiritual rebirth by faith in Jesus Christ.” I believe the religious freedom is one of the best things about the Great Awakening because the religious freedom shows that the Christian will get a better understand of what Christ wants for the instead of others.

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/media/640×360/Religious-freedom-part-four.jpg

http://fromdeathtolife.org/chistory/revival.html#fga

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/revivalism

I liked learning about the Great Awakening because I feel like I can relate to some of the Christians during those times. I grew up in a Christian home were everything the family did had to be revolved around Christ. I really didn’t like that because I had no freedom to express myself in anything else. Growing up like this made me hate the ways of a Christian. As I got older, my mom slowly let me express myself. This freedom made me want to learn more about Christ so I could keep a balance between certain events and Christianity. The Great Awakening is a really great thing for Christians to know about because it basically sets up the way people view things today. I hope people actually go back to this period in time and learn about the Great Awakening because it may open some people eyes on certain things.