Paine announces this book as important and timely in light of the decline in morality associated with the radicalization of the French Revolution. He believes in one Creator God only and rejects all churches built on the world’s major monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He denounces these churches as fraudulent and corrupt. He rejoices that the American and French Revolutions have severed the union between church and state, and predicts that this development will inaugurate a new era of religious liberty and that free inquiry will draw converts to Deism.

Paine rejects all organized religions that claim a special calling, favor, or insight regarding the Almighty. He dismisses these claims because they are associated with revelation, which he argues is impossible—not because God cannot reveal something in any way God chooses, but because a revelation to one person becomes nothing more than a report when transmitted to the next person. By the time it reaches others, it is hearsay only. The Ten Commandments qualify as unsubstantiated revelation, as does the Immaculate Conception.