# III: Concerning the Character of Jesus Christ, and His History explained — The Age of Reason > Chapter companion for The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine. ## What happens Paine distinguishes between the historical Jesus, whom he praises as a virtuous and amiable moral teacher, and the supernatural narratives of the New Testament, which he argues are fraudulent. He contends that the accounts of Jesus' resurrection and ascension lack credible evidence, relying on hearsay and a small number of witnesses, and that the Jews, as descendants of those living at the time, deny the story. Paine suggests Jesus was executed due to the hostility of the Jewish priesthood and possible Roman fears, portraying him as a reformer and revolutionist. ## Themes in this chapter ### Reason vs. Revelation Paine applies reason to critique the resurrection story, demanding public evidence for supernatural claims and rejecting hearsay. ### Critique of Organized Religion Paine attacks the priesthood and the fraudulent origins of Christian narratives, accusing them of imposing belief without proof. ## Character check-ins ### Thomas Paine Author and commentator; presents his skeptical analysis of Jesus Christ's history and the New Testament accounts. ### Jesus Christ Described as a virtuous and amiable man who preached excellent morality and equality, but whose supernatural history is deemed fraudulent by Paine. ### Thomas Mentioned as the disciple who doubted the resurrection, requiring ocular and manual proof; Paine aligns himself with Thomas's skepticism. ### Confucius Cited as a prior teacher of similar morality, alongside Greek philosophers and Quakers. ## Key lines > He was a virtuous and an amiable man. The morality that he preached and practiced was of the most benevolent kind; and though similar systems of morality had been preached by Confucius, and by some of the Greek philosophers, many years before, by the Quakers since, and by many good men in all ages, it has not been exceeded by any. Paine acknowledges Jesus as a good and kind person whose moral teachings were excellent, though not unique, as similar ethics were taught by Confucius, Greek philosophers, Quakers, and others throughout history. _Paine separates the historical Jesus from supernatural claims, praising his morality while denying its originality._ > The resurrection and ascension, supposing them to have taken place, admitted of public and ocular demonstration, like that of the ascension of a balloon, or the sun at noon day, to all Jerusalem at least. If the resurrection and ascension truly happened, they should have been publicly visible to everyone in Jerusalem, like a balloon rising or the sun at midday. _Paine argues that the lack of universal evidence for the resurrection undermines its credibility._ > It has long appeared to me a strange inconsistency to cite the Jews as a proof of the truth of the story. It is just the same as if a man were to say, 'I will prove the truth of what I have told you, by producing the people who say it is false.' Paine finds it contradictory that Christians use Jewish testimony to support the resurrection, since Jews deny it—equivalent to proving a claim by citing those who refute it. _Highlights the logical flaw in relying on the Jewish people as witnesses for an event they reject._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_age_of_reason_se/chapters/part-i-iii-concerning-the-character-of-jesus-christ-and-his-history - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_age_of_reason_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_age_of_reason_se/chapters