steve2 said: Paine's work was on the reading list of one of the undergraduate papers I took in Sociology.
You can see why the Borg doesn't want people attending higher education. I should add Paine's work to my reading list.
I do agree that it is a very good idea to research pre-Jewish/pre-Christian beliefs. The Egyptian Book of the Dead, written before the Bible, contains many of the same themes/beliefs Christians hold with their own adaptation of these. An example: instead of celebrating "Yule and the Winter Solstice" - where pagans celebrate the birth of the sun, Christians celebrate "Christmas", the birth of the son. What better way to attract new members to your cult? Offer up comfort and some familiarity saying "Look, we celebrate very similar things that you do! Come on over and join up."
As Christopher Hitchens once said "Ask yourself what is more likely. That the laws of nature are suspended... OR that an unmarried Jewish girl told a fib."
Edited to add: Interestingly, this being Thu Dec 8, 2016, my calendar states this is "Immaculate Conception" day.