The Age of Reason · Chapter
The Book of John explained
Paine attacks the New Testament, arguing that Jesus Christ is an imaginary or allegorical figure, that the New Testament is filled with falsehoods and contradictions, and that the claim of prophecies about Jesus is fraudulent.
What happens
Paine attacks the New Testament, arguing that Jesus Christ is an imaginary or allegorical figure, that the New Testament is filled with falsehoods and contradictions, and that the claim of prophecies about Jesus is fraudulent. He contrasts the supposed mission of Christ with the grandeur of the visible creation, asserting that a truly divine revelation would have been made universally and immediately, not through obscure, late, and human means. He concludes by invoking Dr. Conyers Middleton's argument that the law of nature revealed in creation is the true universal standard of divine truth, against which all claimed revelations must be tested.
Themes in this chapter
Reason vs. Revelation
Paine contrasts the universal, self-evident truths of reason and nature with the dubious, hearsay-based claims of revealed religion.
Critique of Organized Religion
Paine excoriates priests and church authorities for stifling inquiry, fabricating prophecies, and perpetuating a system of falsehood for their own benefit.
Deism and Natural Theology
Paine and Middleton argue that the true revelation of God is found in the creation itself—the visible universe—which serves as the infallible standard for all truth.
Characters to notice
- Thomas Paine
Author and critic, systematically deconstructing the New Testament's claims and contrasting them with the evidence of creation.
- Jesus Christ
Portrayed as an imaginary or allegorical character, whose story is argued to be a human invention derogatory to God.
- Dr. Conyers Middleton
Quoted at length to support the argument that the law of nature revealed in creation is the true divine standard, against which all revelations must be judged.
- Cicero
Cited by Middleton as a pagan sage who articulated the universal law of right reason, conformable to the nature of things.
- Luke
Mentioned as the source for the claim that Christ was thirty years old before beginning his mission.
Key passages
“There is no history written at the time Jesus Christ is said to have lived that speaks of the existence of such a person, even as a man.”
No contemporary historical record from the time Jesus supposedly lived mentions him at all, not even as a human being.
Paine argues that Jesus is an allegorical figure, not a historical person.
“Were the New Testament now to appear for the first time, every priest of the present day would examine it line by line... Why, then, do they not make the same examination at this time?”
If the New Testament were published today for the first time, priests would scrutinize it thoroughly; so why don't they apply the same critical scrutiny now?
Paine accuses clergy of hypocrisy in failing to examine their own scriptures critically.
“To suppose the Almighty would pay greater regard and attention to the creation and organisation of inanimate matter, than he would to the salvation of innumerable millions of souls... is to offer an insult to his goodness and his justice.”
It insults God's goodness and justice to think he cared more about making the physical world than about saving countless human souls.
Paine uses the argument from divine attributes to reject the Christian scheme of salvation as inconsistent with God's nature.
“It was this divine law which I referred to... being desirous to excite the reader’s attention to it, as it would enable him to judge more freely of the argument I was handling.”
I pointed to this divine law of nature to encourage the reader to use it as a standard for judging the argument.
Paine quotes Middleton to establish the law of nature as the ultimate test of truth.
