As one continues to work their way through Mr. Paine's "The Age of Reason" the statement Mr. Franklin gave advising him to burn it before anyone else saw it grows in its reality. To quote his contemporary Mr. Elias Boudinot, "This is something worse than bare misrepresentation. It must be admitted to arise, either from a total want of knowledge of the subject, or a willful perversion of the truth." - Elias Boudinot. "The Age of Revelation" (Delegate to the Continental Congress, the executive officer of the United States, signer of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, and founder of the natural history department of what is now Princeton University.)
"The ancient Mythologists tell us that the race of Giants made war against Jupiter, and that one of them threw a hundred rocks against him at one throw; that Jupiter defeated him with thunder, and confined him afterward under Mount Etna, and that every time the Giant turns himself Mount Etna belches fire. . . . Thus far the ancient and the Christian Mythologists differ very little from each other. But the latter have contrived to carry the matter much farther. They have contrived to connect the fabulous part of the story of Jesus Christ with the fable originating from Mount Etna; and in order to make all the parts of the story tie together, they have taken to their aid the traditions of the Jews; for the Christian mythology is made up partly from the ancient mythology and partly from the Jewish traditions." - Thomas Paine (The Age of Reason)
Mr. Paine's rant continues to border upon utter madness, it is difficult to understand how the writer of "Common Sense" and the "Rights of Man" could possibly be the same author as the one in this work of fantasy. If one is going to make arguments against any system of thought that carries with it a very wide following, you would think in all seriousness he would attempt to approach it reasonably and logically. However, Mr. Paine abandons both and continues in his foolishness being unfaithful to his own previous sentiments.
Mr. Paine here in his work "The Age of Reason" attempts to undermine the authority of scripture and present them a nothing more ancient Myths. Yet, in his profound work "Common Sense" he makes his appeal which rests upon nothing more than the authority of scripture. "As the exalting one man so greatly above the rest cannot be justified on the equal rights of nature, so neither can it be defended on the authority of scripture; for the will of the Almighty as declared by Gideon and the prophet Samuel expressly disapproves of government by kings." - Thomas Paine (Common Sense 1775-1776)
Mr. Paine in "Common Sense" not only appeals to the authority of scripture, but recognizes Gideon and the prophet Samuel as historical individuals through whom that authority was spoken and the revelation given by God, of which he now calls hearsay upon hearsay. He has either abandoned his previous convictions because of his lack of understanding of the Christian faith, or he has proven himself unfaith to honest contemplation on any subject. He then in "Common Sense" moves to the new Testament stating: "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s' is the scripture doctrine of courts, yet it is no support of monarchical government, for the Jews at that time were without a king, and in a state of vassalage to the Romans" - Thomas Paine (Common Sense)
Here in this work Mr. Paine makes the charge we cannot know the authors of these ancient writings no more than we can know their authenticity. Yet, in "Common Sense" Mr. Paine leans not only upon the authority of these ancient text as well as their historical importance to make his arguments, but also knowledge of their authors. "Near three thousand years passed away from the Mosaic [of Moses] account of the creation till the Jews under a national delusion requested a king." - Thomas Paine (Common Sense)
I will resist here to continue with Mr. Paine's own words in "Common Sense" (which was appropriately named) except for this once more example. I will simply refer the reader to Mr. Paine's on work in "Common Sense" which in most views is one of the most influential works during the American revolutionary time. However, had Mr. Paine wrote "The Age of Reason" before "Common Sense" he would have undermined the entire work and rendered it useless to his cause.
"The children of Israel being oppressed by the Midianites, Gideon marched against them with a small army, and victory thro’ the divine interposition decided in his favor. The Jews, elate with success, and attributing it to the generalship of Gideon, proposed making him a king, saying, Rule thou over us, thou and thy son and thy son’s son. Here was temptation in its fullest extent; not a kingdom only, but a hereditary one, but Gideon in the piety of his soul replied, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. THE LORD SHALL RULE OVER YOU. Words need not be more explicit; Gideon doth not decline the honor but denieth their right to give it; neither doth he compliment them with invented declarations of his thanks, but in the positive style of a prophet charges them with disaffection to their proper Sovereign, the King of heaven." - Thomas Paine (Common Sense)
Here, Paine makes his argument in "Common Sense" by acknowledging the historical record given in Judges 8:23 and the authority of the ancient text. In his foolishness, Mr. Paine in his own words here in "The Age of Reason" is rendering his most influential work as being based upon nothing more than myths.
Though Mr. Paine in his "Age of Reason" does admit to be of a religious nature believing in a one god, however, in his excellent work "America in Crisis" he calls upon a Biblical passage to affirm that belief, of which he now calls a myth. "The natural right of the continent to independence, is a point which never yet was called in question. It will not even admit of a debate. To deny such a right, would be a kind of atheism against nature: and the best answer to such an objection would be, "The fool hath said in his heart there is no God." (Psalm 14:1 & Psalm 15:3) - Thomas Paine (America in Crisis III).
Moving on to Mr. Paine's excellent work "The Rights of Man" Paine again demonstrates his confusion and unfaithfulness to his own thoughts. There he accounts the Mosaic account of creation as divine revelation, if not divine, at least historical authority. Is it not strange, Mr. Paine claims for authority what he now calls myths? "The Mosaic account of the creation, whether taken as divine authority, or merely historical, is full to this point, the unity or equality of man. The expressions admit of no controversy. “And God said, Let us make man in our own image. In the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” The distinction of sexes is pointed out, but no other distinction is even implied. If this be not divine authority, it is at least historical authority, and shews that the equality of man, so far from being a modern doctrine, is the oldest upon record." - Thomas Paine (The Rights of Man)
It is difficult to know what to make of Mr. Paine's confusion, for it does appear he has some knowledge of scripture as he claims them so often as the authority for his arguments. Yet, at other times he disregards them as myths. To quote his contemporary Mr. Boudinot: "The writer of the "Age of Reason" may think it harsh to be charged with falsehood in every page of his work; but it would be ill become an advocate for the Gospel, not to declare it boldly, and would be doing great injustice to the cause of truth, when the everlasting interests of his fellow men are at stake; and the guilty person has no one but himself to blame for this severity, having presumed to enter on a subject with which he had not taken pains to make himself acquainted; no, not with its alphabet." - Elias Boudinot (The Age of Revelation).
Mr. Boudinot's defense is not of the Gospel, but Mr. Paine's presentation of a so called Gospel, articulated out of his own misunderstanding or utter ignorance of the Biblical text.
Mr. Paine continues: "The Christian Mythologists, after having confined Satan in a pit, were obliged to let him out again to bring on the sequel of the fable. He is then introduced into the Garden of Eden, in the shape of a snake or a serpent, and in that shape he enters into familiar conversation with Eve, who is no way surprised to hear a snake talk; and the issue of this tete-a-tete is that he persuades her to eat an apple, and the eating of that apple damns all mankind." - Thomas Paine (The Age of Reason)
Genesis 3:1 ESV
(1) Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
Mr. Paine here makes light of something he knows nothing about. He appeals to what would be strange to the human mind today in making reference to an event of a very different time. There is nothing in the text that implies the woman should be surprised to hear the serpent talk. We know from the text itself, the serpent is a creature created in a very different form than it now exist or even existed very shortly after this event. We also know from the Biblical text Satan is a spiritual being, obviously making use of a material being to adapt himself to the deception. The fact that snakes do not talk has no bearing whatsoever upon the reading of this text.
Mr. Paine then points to the eating of an apple as the condemnation of all men. How Mr. Paine knows what the fruit of this tree was will remain a mystery. Obviously he does not, he is only appealing from a very light and disrespectful reading of the text. The command was:
Genesis 2:16-17 ESV
(16) And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,
(17) but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
The obvious reading of the text communicates that disobedience is the condemning vice, not the fruit of whatever form it may have been.
Mr. Paine in his following statements confirms the sentiments of Mr. Boudinot concerning Paine's complete ignorance of the subject.
"In order to make for it a foundation to rise upon, the inventors were under the necessity of giving to the being whom they call Satan, a power equally as great, if not greater than they attribute to the Almighty. They have not only given him the power of liberating himself from the pit, after what they call his fall, but they have made that power increase afterward to infinity. Before this fall they represent him only as an angel of limited existence, as they represent the rest. After his fall, he becomes, by their account, omnipresent. He exists everywhere, and at the same time. He occupies the whole immensity of space." - Thomas Paine (The Age of Reason)
The Theological error within Paine's narrative is almost beyond comprehension. Even one with the most basic knowledge of Christian doctrine would have a better understanding of the text than Mr. Paine exhibits in those statements. The idea of Satan being cast into a pit and then let out to deceive the woman is found nowhere in scripture or in Christian doctrine. The giving of power to Satan equal to that of God is found nowhere in scripture or by inference and also is found in no Christian doctrine. Nowhere in scripture is Satan seen liberating himself from a pit, and nowhere in any Christian doctrine is Satan seen to have infinite power or is he ever ascribed the attribute omnipresent. All of those statements by Mr. Paine are false contrivances of his own deluded mind.
Throughout scripture Satan is seen as a fallen being from his former glory of which he received from his creator. He is never seen as nothing more than a fallen angel. He is seen always in complete submission to God, obeying his every command and unable to take the slightest initiative of his own without direct permission from God Almighty. He is seen in complete obedience to every Command of Christ and even subordinate to the authority given to the Apostles. He is always seen as being limited in every aspect and confined by the determinant will of God.
"Not content with this deification of Satan, they represent him as defeating, by stratagem, in the shape of an animal of the creation, all the power and wisdom of the Almighty. They represent him as having compelled the Almighty to the direct necessity either of surrendering the whole of the creation to the government and sovereignty of this Satan, or of capitulating for its redemption by coming down upon earth, and exhibiting himself upon a cross in the shape of a man." - Thomas Paine (The Age of Reason)
Mr. Paine in this work of fantasy continues to recite theological contrivances of his own mind that has nothing to do with scripture or Christian doctrine. The Creation, fall, and redemption of man is a work completed in the eternal councils, foreseen in the mind of God before time began. At no point did anything occur beyond the knowledge of God and his watchful hand of Providence. Mr. Paine is obliged to disbelieve the scriptures, however, his assertions have nothing to do with the scriptures. It seems he has taken upon himself to create his own Christian doctrine in order that he may have something to boost his claims.
Isaiah 46:8-11 ESV
(8) “Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors,
(9) remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,
(10) declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
(11) calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.
Acts 2:22-24 KJV
(22) Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
(23) Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
(24) Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
Ephesians 1:4 ESV
(4) even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love
