"Everything in the Old Testament is perverted and distorted into meanings never intended by the writers. The practice which the writers of the books employ is not more false than it is absurd. They state some trifling case of the person they call Jesus Christ, and then cut out a sentence from some passage of the OT and call it a prophecy of that case. But when the words thus cut out are restored to the places they are taken from, and read with the words before and after them, they give the lie to the New Testament."--Thomas Paine
2007-05-26 05:17:21 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
It was very brave of him to do this before science made atheism intellectually plausible.
It is nice to see that people can point out contradictions while not having an alternative belief system.
2007-05-26 05:21:12 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
I am, as a matter of fact, a great admirer of Thomas Paine, and I do agree with him. He is in your quote referring especially to the so-called prophecy of the "virgin birth" in Isaiah, which is really talking about a chap named "Maher-shalal-hash-baz" (or something like that. It has the distinction of being the longest name in the Bible.
2007-05-26 12:28:04 · answer #2 · answered by harridan5 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I've been telling christians this for years, they just deny it as a work of satan or deny it matters.
Lawrence, we can prove Paine's claims with the very bible which you hold so dear, and I dare you to look at all of the so-called prophecies that proclaimed Jesus' arrival. It's clear that the Jews were right for calling him a false prophet and blasphemer. But don't believe me, LOOK IT UP FOR YOURSELF!
2007-05-26 12:25:11 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
as i'm sure you know the new testament was put together by politicians. I think Thomas Paine is a logical guy.
2007-05-26 12:26:23 · answer #4 · answered by amanda c 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I think I love Thomas Paine. Only recently did I discover that he saw into my heart 200 years ago.
2007-05-26 12:22:39 · answer #5 · answered by Gorgeoustxwoman2013 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
He, like most of the founding fathers, were very intelligent men who heavily doubted the divinity of Jesus and realized the obvious contradictions and contrivances in the bible. Amen.
2007-05-26 12:27:52 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
It is the faulty assessment of one of the few Founding Fathers who was not a Christian I give it no more credibility than I would an assessment coming form an atheist today
2007-05-26 12:48:43 · answer #7 · answered by †Lawrence R† 6 · 0⤊ 4⤋
Spot on.
2007-05-26 12:20:10 · answer #8 · answered by gopher_baroque 4 · 3⤊ 1⤋