Giving credit where credit is due, Mr. Paine in his "The Age of Reason" acknowledges that a good man by the name of Jesus could have existed and speaks very highly of his teachings saying: "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." - Thomas Paine (The Age of Reason).
However, Mr. Paine totally disregards the Biblically account of his virgin birth and his resurrection, both being essential to the Christian faith. For without the incarnation, the Christ is nothing more than a normal man and unable to take the sins of the World. And without the resurrection there is no forgiveness of sins.
"His historians having brought him into the world in a supernatural manner, were obliged to take him out again in the same manner, or the first part of the story must have fallen to the ground. The wretched contrivance with which this latter part is told exceeds every thing that went before it." - Thomas Paine (The Age of Reason).
1 Corinthians 15:12-17 ESV
(12) Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
(13) But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
(14) And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
(15) We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.
(16) For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
(17) And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
The idea of one rising from dead pushes the human understanding beyond its limits, for if there is one thing certain in life, it is that everybody dies sooner or later, and until Christ, nobody had ever come back. So it is of no surprise that a resurrection would be questioned. Mr. Paine in bringing his doubts to the table again demonstrates he is either not familiar with the Gospel story or either is determined as to distort it with false statements to support his claims. He states: " . . . a small number of persons, not more than eight or nine, are introduced as proxies for the whole world, to say they saw it, and all the rest of the world are called upon to believe it." - Thomas Paine (The Age of Reason)
However, you can clearly see from the text below, if he had read it, that well over 500 eyewitnesses are stated to have seen Christ alive after his passion.
1 Corinthians 15:4-8 ESV
(4) that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
(5) and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
(6) Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
(7) Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
(8) Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
Mr. Paine argues: "The story, so far as relates to the supernatural part, has every mark of fraud and imposition stamped upon the face of it. Who were the authors of it is as impossible for us now to know, as it is for us to be assured that the books in which the account is related were written by the persons whose names they bear; the best surviving evidence we now have respecting that affair is the Jews. . . . 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." - Thomas Paine (The Age of Reason)
Mr. Paine somehow missed the obvious point, if there were people claiming it was false, there must have been a large enough number of people claiming it was true. For if only 8 or so people as he claimed were making a public profession to a resurrection it would hardly warrant a large-scale rebuttal from the Jewish Sanhedrin and the Jewish community in general.
As to the writings themselves, it is true all we have are copies of copies. However, when considering writings of antiquity, this is not uncommon. The fact we have any is truly amazing when considering the time involved and the material involved. When doing textual analysis, one begins with a historical investigation, beginning with the latest documents and working backward. As the evidence develops, the data is evaluated against other like documents. The record is then checked for consistency of information, and the claims are analyzed as if it were a legal case, looking for credible testimony within the other documents.
As to the science of determining the authenticity of a text of antiquity, the biblical text is a gold mine. When comparing the biblical text to other text of antiquity, there are more available resources to determine its origin and authenticity than any other text of antiquity available.
Caesar’s Gallic Wars was written in the first century B.C. and we have only 10 manuscripts in existence. The earliest text were copied 1,000 years after the original. It seems most serious historians do not consider the text reliable as to the facts it presents. However it is still considered an important historical source, not for asserting facts, but for getting a feel of the political and social climate in Rome at the time it was written as well as for Caesars motivations and mindset. In other words, they do not doubt the source or question the author, they just don't think the author related the events accurately. They essentially believe Caesar simply exaggerated his success.
Aristotle’s Poetics was written in the fourth century B.C. and we have only 5 manuscripts remaining in existence. The earliest text we have, were copied 1,400 years after the original. Yet, amazingly no one questions the fact that Aristotle was its author and the philosophy is his.
However, when considering the Biblical text, there are some 25,000 early manuscripts in existence, almost 6,000 of which are Greek texts and the others being early translations of the Greek New Testament. Instead of 1,000 years or 1,400 years, we have manuscripts written within the century of the original or the 2nd century. We have the Samaritan Pentateuch: 400 B.C., the Septuagint Greek: 280 B.C., the Dead Sea Scrolls: 0 A.D., and the Latin Vulgate: 400 A.D. We also have all the writings of the Church fathers, by taking their quotes of Scripture; we could reconstruct the entire New Testament from their writings alone. Yet, everything is questioned concerning the reliability of these texts. That is not only unreasonable, it is not the least logical. So why is it questioned? It is as it always has been.
John 3:19 ESV
(19) And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
Pliny, a Roman governor called Christianity a “superstition taken to extravagant lengths.” Similarly, the Roman historian Tacitus called it “a deadly superstition,” and historian Suetonius called Christians “a class of persons given to a new and mischievous superstition." This writing of antiquity supports the claims of the Christians of the first century of the extravagant claim of a resurrection. Religious beliefs were tolerated in the Roman empire, many gods were worshiped, even the One God of Judaism. This is with the exception of Christianity, they were considered to be a deadly superstitious group because they professed Christ had risen from the dead.
Tactitus is regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome. Writing on the reign of Nero, Tacitus alludes to the death of Christ and to the existence of Christians in Rome.
“Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the word find their center and become popular.” - Tactitus (55-117 A.D.)
“They (the Christians) were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to God, and bound themselves by a solemn oath not to any wicked deeds, not to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor to deny any trust when they should be call to deliver it up, after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food but not food of an ordinary but and innocent kind.” - Pliny the Younger (112 A.D.)
“ On the eve of the Passover Yeshua was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried, “He is going forth to be stoned because He has practiced sorcery (an admission of his miracles) and enticed Israel to apostasy. Any one who can say anything in his favor let him come forward and plead on his behalf. But since nothing was brought forward in his favor he was hanged on the evening of the Passover.” - The Babylonian Talmud, vol. III, Sanhedrin 43a
". . . these misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains the contempt of death and voluntary self-devotion which are so common among them; and then it was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws. All this they take quite on faith, with the result that they despise all worldly goods alike, regarding them merely as common property.” - Lucian, The Death of Peregrine (120-180 AD).
“Because the Jews at Rome caused constant disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus [Christ], he [Claudius] expelled them from the city [Rome].” - Suetonius (69-140 A.D.)
“Nero inflicted punishment on the Christians, a sect given to a new and mischievous religious belief.” - Suetonius (69-140 A.D.)
“…nearness to the sword is nearness to God; to be among the wild beasts is to be in the arms of God; only let it be in the name of Jesus Christ. I endure all things that I may suffer together with him, since he who became perfect man strengthens me…We have not only to be called Christians, but to be Christians.” - Ignatius of Antioch (50-170 A.D.) speaking of Christian persecution.
“The deeds of our Savior were always before you, for they were true miracles; those that were healed, those that were raised from the dead, who were seen, not only when healed and when raised, but were always present. They remained living a long time, not only whilst our Lord was on earth, but likewise when he had left the earth. So that some of them have also lived in our times.” - Quadratus (125 A.D.) as preserved by Eusebius.
"I then thought it the more needful to get at the facts behind their statements. Therefore I placed two women, called “deaconesses,” under torture, but I found only a debased superstition carried to great lengths, so I postponed my examination, and immediately consulted you. This seems a matter worthy of your prompt consideration, especially as so many people are endangered. Many of all ages and both sexes are put in peril of their lives by their accusers; and the process will go on, for the contagion of this superstition has spread not merely through the free towns, but into the villages and farms" - Pliny the younger. (112 AD) writing to Nero.
“The other kind of evil comes, so to speak, in the form of a huge parade. Surrounding it is a retinue of swords and fire and chains and a mob of beasts to be let loose upon the disemboweled entrails of men. Picture to yourself under his head the prison, the cross, the rack, the hook, and the stake which they drive straight through a man until it protrudes from his throat. Think of human limbs torn apart by chariots driven in opposite directions, of the terrible shirt smeared and interwoven with inflammable materials, and of all the other contrivances devised by cruelty, in addition to those which I have mentioned!” - Seneca 3 B.C. - 65 A.D.) referring to the persecutions of the Christians.
“The Emperor Caesar Titus Aelius Adrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius, Supreme Pontiff, in the fifteenth year of his tribune ship, Consul for the third time, Father of the fatherland, to the Common Assembly of Asia, greeting: I should have thought that the gods themselves would see to it that such offenders should not escape. For if they had the power, they themselves would much rather punish those who refuse to worship them; but it is you who bring trouble on these persons, and accuse as the opinion of atheists that which they hold, and lay to their charge certain other things which we are unable to prove." - Antonius Pius (86 AD to 161 AD) the Christians were sometimes called Atheists because they refused to worship the many Roman gods.
For there to have never been a Christ, a Christian Church, a group of followers commissioned to preach His message, all existing in the 1st century, there is an enormous weight of writings of antiquity compelling one to believe otherwise.
Conclusion, Mr. Paine's assertion of the none reliability of the History of Christ, the claims of his disciples, and the existence of a growing and robust body of believers in the first century are completely false by any measure of scientific means applied to the study of documents of antiquity. Here again Mr. Paine either does not understand the subject of which he is writing or has purposely written for the purpose of propaganda or personal hatred of religion. Whatever his reasons, this work of his carries no weight of reality or truth, but only false assertion and misleading ideas.
