‘Thomas Paine made a shambles of his life by the end by cutting himself off from Jesus Christ’ They say the exception proves the rule. Thomas Paine was a Founding Father who later in life became a complete skeptic. Most of America’s founders were professing Trinitarian Christians. Dozens of them had the equivalent of a seminary degree. …‘Thomas Paine made a shambles of his life by the end by cutting himself off from Jesus Christ’ They say the exception proves the rule. Thomas Paine was a Founding Father who later in life became a complete skeptic. Most of America’s founders were professing Trinitarian Christians. Dozens of them had the equivalent of a seminary degree. …