# Of the Bases of Christianity explained — The Age of Reason

> Chapter companion for The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine.

## What happens

Paine argues that Christian mythology is derived from ancient pagan myths, particularly the fable of Jupiter and the Giants, and that the story of Satan, the fall of man, and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is a fabricated narrative built upon Jewish traditions and earlier mythologies.

## Themes in this chapter

### Critique of Organized Religion

Paine attacks the Christian Church as mythologists who fabricate absurd stories, equating their narratives with pagan mythology.

### Reason vs. Revelation

Paine uses reason to deconstruct the Christian fable, highlighting its inconsistencies and reliance on earlier myths.

### Critique of Biblical Inerrancy

By exposing the borrowed and fabricated nature of Christian stories, Paine undermines the claim of biblical infallibility.

## Character check-ins

### Thomas Paine

Author and critic of Christian mythology, drawing parallels between ancient and Christian fables.

### Jesus Christ

Portrayed as a virtuous and amiable man, but used by Christian mythologists as a sacrificial figure in their fable.

### Satan

Central figure in Christian mythology, depicted as making war against the Almighty, being confined, then released to tempt Eve.

### Eve

Introduced in the garden of Eden, converses with the serpent and eats the apple, leading to the damnation of all mankind.

### Jupiter

Ancient mythological figure who defeats the Giants, providing a parallel to the Christian story of Satan.

### Muhammad

Mentioned as part of the bribe promised to Satan by Christian mythologists.

## Key lines

> It is upon this plain narrative of facts, together with another case I am going to mention, that the Christian mythologists, calling themselves the Christian Church, have erected their fable, which for absurdity and extravagance is not exceeded by anything that is to be found in the mythology of the ancients.

The Christian Church has built its story on a simple set of claims, but that story is as ridiculous and overblown as any ancient myth.

_Paine equates Christian doctrine with pagan mythology, dismissing it as a fable._

> The Christian mythologists tell that their Satan made war against the Almighty, who defeated him, and confined him afterwards, not under a mountain, but in a pit.

Christian mythologists claim Satan fought God, lost, and was imprisoned in a pit instead of under a mountain.

_Paine draws a direct parallel between the Greek myth of the Giants and the Christian story of Satan._

> They represent this virtuous and amiable man, Jesus Christ, to be at once both God and man, and also the Son of God, celestially begotten, on purpose to be sacrificed, because they say that Eve in her longing had eaten an apple.

They portray Jesus, a good and kind man, as both God and man, and as God's son, born from heaven specifically to be killed as a sacrifice for Eve's apple-eating.

_Paine highlights the absurdity of the Christian doctrine of atonement based on the Eden story._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_age_of_reason_se/chapters/part-i-iv-of-the-bases-of-christianity
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_age_of_reason_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_age_of_reason_se/chapters