Posted by blue on January 30, 1999 at 18:44:05:
In Reply to: Straw man posted by Carlos on January 30, 1999 at 16:16:54:
: Paine has just finished outlining the NT narrative, and now he is *contrasting* it with the mythology that Christians (remember, Christians of his time) built up around the Bible.
But he goes deeper than that, using a bit of circular reasoning. He first disparages the "Christian mythology" of his day, as you say. But then he uses this as a springboard to criticize the Bible itself inChapter VII. It remains a straw man, as you like to call it. If he recognized that Chapter V was not biblical, he can't use that sequentially with VII. I'd like to discuss chapter VII next, by the way. Hopefully I'll get my act together within the day.
: Do you dispute that all of the views you take exception to have been held by various Christian denominations, and are currently held by many today? The fact that they are extra-biblical (and I agree with you that they cannot be found in scripture) doesn't mean that they aren't tenets of Christian denominations.
: Paine wasn't just criticizing the bible, he was criticizing Christianity.
You have a point well taken, that many professing Christians have built doctrines that are just as alien to the Bible as any doctrines anyone else has concocted. And Mr. Paine's writings on the incoporation of Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology into Christendom via the Roman Catholic church is absolutely correct. But I know of no denomination calling themselves Christian who has ever elevated Satan to the status Mr. Paine states, and that is the real crux of Chapter V.
Thanks for taking the time to discuss his work. I've been wanting to do so for some time now.
blue