Humanities 3VI. The Last Epic

Lecture 27

Justifying theWays of God to Man

PARADISE LOST:THE MOVIE

Produced by Vincent NewmanDirected by Scott DerricksonScreenplay by Phil DiBlasi, Stuart Hazeldine, Byron WillingerDistributor: Warner Bros.Budget: upwards of $100,000,000Cast: Heath Ledger or Daniel Craig as SatanCurrent Status: in production; Release Date: 2009

http://www.paradiselost.org/index-3.html

Outline

• Big Ideas: A Christian Epic?

• Justifying the Ways of God to Man

• Central Themes of Books III-IV

Milton’s BlindnessHail holy light, offspring of Heav'n first-born,Or of th' Eternal Coeternal beamMay I express thee unblam'd?….But cloud instead, and ever-during darkSurrounds me, from the cheerful ways of menCut off, and for the Book of knowledge fairPresented with a Universal blankOf Nature’s works to mee expung'd and raz'd,And wisdom at one entrance quite shut out.So much the rather thou Celestial lightShine inward, and the mind through all her powersIrradiate, there plant eyes, all mist from thencePurge and disperse, that I may see and tellOf things invisible to mortal sight. (3.1-55)

Form of Epic

• Elevated language; directed at aristocraticaudience

• Subject is war, single combat• Divine and semi-divine characters• Action opens with the defeat of the

rebellious angels, led by Satan• The meet in council to decide their next

move

An Epic of the Universe“The subject of an epic poem is naturally an event ofgreat importance. That of Milton is not thedestruction of a city, the conduct of a colony, or thefoundation of an empire. His subject is the fate ofworlds; the revolution of heaven and of earth;rebellion against the Supreme King, raised by thehighest order of created beings; the overthrow oftheir host, and the punishment of their crime; thecreation of a new race of reasonable creatures; theiroriginal happiness and innocence, their forfeiture ofimmortality, and their restoration to hope and peace.”

Samuel Johnson, The Lives of the Poets (1779)

A Christian Epic?• Can Christianity be comprehended through the

conventions of the epic? What does this implyabout Christianity as a religion? Is it true?

• Milton is a Christian but an idiosyncratic one: the“Son” is never referred to as “Jesus Christ”(Arianism)

• Every epic needs a hero: who is Milton’s? Satan?(1.250-263; 2.86-89) The Son? Adam?

• Political significance: PL is the English epic: it laysout the proper relation between politics and religion,the human and the divine (the confusion of these isthe source of the English civil war)

Who’s the Hero?“Nothing can exceed the energy and magnificence of thecharacter of Satan as expressed in Paradise Lost. It is amistake to suppose that he could ever have been intendedfor the popular personification of evil. Milton's Devil as amoral being is as far superior to his God.” - Shelley

“The reason Milton wrote in fetters when he wrote ofAngels and God, and at liberty when of Devils and Hell, isbecause he was a true Poet and of the Devil's party withoutknowing it.” - Blake

Justifying the Ways of God to Man

What in me is darkIllumine, what is low raise and support;That to the heighth of this great ArgumentI may assert Eternal Providence,And justify the ways of God to men.(1.22-26)

Good and Evil• Underlying PL is the opposition of good and evil.• The ancient theology of Manicheanism represents

this as a battle between opposing cosmic powers.Some of this persists in the battle between Godand Satan (compare PL 1.157-77)

• But the most important innovation of Christianityis the internalization of good and evil as psychicforces: the corruption (original sin) of Adam andEve is expressed in sinful feelings and desires.

• Recall Luther’s identification of hell as thecondition of despair (compare PL 4.73-5).

Divine Providence• Literally, God’s foreknowledge (praevidere), but

there also is the implication that God cares for ourwell-being

• Traditionally, this has given rise to twotheological problems:

! The problem of evil: How could a benevolent Godpermit the existence of natural evil (famine, drought,sickness) and moral evil (sin)?

! The problem of free will: If God is all-knowing,what room is there for the exercise of free will?

Why the Problem of Evilis Bad News

• Either God does not know how bad things are(in which case God is not omniscient)

• Or God knows and can do nothing about it (inwhich case God is not omnipotent)

• Or God knows and can do something about itbut chooses not to (in which case God is notall-good)

• In any case, God is not supremely perfect

Meeting the Challenge:“Justifying the Ways of God”

• Theodicy: God acts justly in creating “the best ofall possible worlds” (Leibniz). No created worldcould be without evil; God creates the world thatcontains the least evil overall and the greatestpotential for human happiness (the badness of someparts is redeemed by the goodness of the whole).

• God Works in Mysterious Ways: God’s powerdoes not submit to human comprehension (Job) orhuman standards of right (Luther). Our place is toobey and worship God.

Milton Straddles These Poles• He does not believe that God is answerable for the

creation of the world and whatever evil it contains: hisconception of God is Luther’s inscrutable lawgiver.

• But he does set out to explain to human beings what itmeans to be children of Adam, what their relation toGod should be, and the meaning of the Son of God.

• In doing so, Milton upholds the central truths of theBible’s account of humanity’s creation, fall andredemption, but he also gives them his own specificgloss, which relates them to the politics ofcontemporary England.

Central Themes in Books III-IV

• Satan’s Rebellion

• “Free to Fall”

• “A Second Root”

• Adam and Eve: Obedience and Knowledge

Satan’s Rebellion• Satan knows he cannot best God in battle; so guile

is necessary. Satan proposes to get back at Godby corrupting the new created world (1.637-662)

• But God knows everything he is planning to do(1.210-220, 2.383-4). Does Satan recognize this?

• There is something tragic in Satan’s struggle: evenhis attempt to destroy creation plays into God’smaster plan (2.378-393, 557-569; 4.73-112)

Me miserable! which way shall I fly Infinite wrath, and infinite despair? Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell; 75 And, in the lowest deep, a lower deep Still threatening to devour me opens wide, To which the Hell I suffer seems a Heaven. O, then, at last relent: Is there no place Left for repentance, none for pardon left? 80 None left but by submission; and that word Disdain forbids me, and my dread of shame Among the Spirits beneath, whom I seduced With other promises and other vaunts Than to submit, boasting I could subdue 85 The Omnipotent. Ay me! they little know How dearly I abide that boast so vain, Under what torments inwardly I groan, While they adore me on the throne of Hell. With diadem and scepter high advanced, 90 The lower still I fall, only supreme In misery: Such joy ambition finds. But say I could repent, and could obtain, By act of grace, my former state; how soon Would highth recall high thoughts, how soon unsay 95 What feigned submission swore? Ease would recant Vows made in pain, as violent and void. For never can true reconcilement grow, Where wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep: Which would but lead me to a worse relapse 100 And heavier fall: so should I purchase dear Short intermission bought with double smart. This knows my Punisher; therefore as far From granting he, as I from begging, peace; All hope excluded thus, behold, in stead 105 Of us out-cast, exil'd, his new delight, Mankind created, and for him this world. So farewell, hope; and with hope farewell, fear; Farewell, remorse! all good to me is lost; Evil, be thou my good; by thee at least Divided empire with Heaven's King I hold, 110 By thee, and more than half perhaps will reign; As Man ere long, and this new world, shall know."

Satan

4.73-112

“The Fortunate Fall”• Milton wants us to think that everything that

happens is for the best: the sin of Adam isredeemed by the sacrifice of the Son.(7.613-16)

• Is Milton committed to the claim that Godforeknows and preordains everything thathappens?

• Is so how can there be room for the freechoice exercised by Satan, Eve, and Adam?

“Only begotten Son, seest thou what rageTransports our Adversary? whom no boundsPrescrib'd, no bars of Hell, nor all the chainsHeap'd on him there, nor yet the main abyssWide interrupt, can hold; so bent he seemsOn desperate revenge, that shall redoundUpon his own rebellious head. And now,Through all restraint broke loose, he wings his wayNot far off Heaven, in the precincts of light,Directly towards the new created world,And man there plac'd, with purpose to assayIf him by force he can destroy, or, worse,By some false guile pervert; and shall pervert;For man will hearken to his glozing lies,And easily transgress the sole command,Sole pledge of his obedience: So will fallHe and his faithless progeny: Whose fault?Whose but his own? ingrate, he had of meAll he could have; I made him just and right,Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall.Such I created all the ethereal PowersAnd Spirits, both them who stood, and them who fail'd;Freely they stood who stood, and fell who fell.Not free, what proof could they have given sincere

Of true allegiance, constant faith or love,Where only what they needs must do appear'd,Not what they would? what praise could they receive?What pleasure I from such obedience paid,When will and reason (reason also is choice)Useless and vain, of freedom both despoil'd,Made passive both, had serv'd necessity,Not me? they therefore, as to right belong'd,So were created, nor can justly accuseTheir Maker, or their making, or their fate,As if predestination over-rul'dTheir will dispos'd by absolute decreeOr high foreknowledge; they themselves decreedTheir own revolt, not I; if I foreknew,Foreknowledge had no influence on their fault,Which had no less proved certain unforeknown.So without least impulse or shadow of fate,Or aught by me immutably foreseen,They trespass, authors to themselves in allBoth what they judge, and what they choose; for soI form'd them free: and free they must remain,Till they enthrall themselves; I else must changeTheir nature, and revoke the high decreeUnchangeable, eternal, which ordain'dTheir freedom: they themselves ordain'd their fall.”

God: “Free to Fall” (3.80-134)

God’s “Eternal Purpose” (3.172)• Because of their sin of disobedience, Adam and

Eve deserve to fall• But their guilt is mitigated by Satan’s deception,

so God shows mercy in the form of grace (3.130-131, 173-184)

• Still, the penalty for sin (death) must be paid(3.208-212). Only the Son is willing to offerhimself as a victim, to redeem mankind (3.222-226)

• The Son’s sacrifice makes possible eternal life forthose who accept God’s grace (3.313-343)

WilliamBlake,1808

God: “A Second Root” (3.283-302)"And be thyself Man among men on Earth, Made flesh, when time shall be, of virgin seed, By wondrous birth; be thou in Adam's room 285 The head of all mankind, though Adam's son. As in him perish all men, so in thee, As from a second root, shall be restored As many as are restored, without thee none. His crime makes guilty all his sons; thy merit, 290 Imputed, shall absolve them who renounce Their own both righteous and unrighteous deeds, And live in thee transplanted, and from thee Receive new life. So Man, as is most just, Shall satisfy for Man, be judged and die, 295 And dying rise, and rising with him raise His brethren, ransomed with his own dear life. So heavenly love shall outdo hellish hate, Giving to death, and dying to redeem, So dearly to redeem what hellish hate 3 0 0 So easily destroyed, and still destroys In those who, when they may, accept not grace."

Adam and Eve (4.287-318)Of living creatures, new to sight, and strange Two of far nobler shape, erect and tall, Godlike erect, with native honour clad In naked majesty seemed lords of all: 2 9 0 And worthy seemed; for in their looks divine The image of their glorious Maker shone, Truth, wisdom, sanctitude severe and pure, (Severe, but in true filial freedom placed,) Whence true authority in men; though both 2 9 5 Not equal, as their sex not equal seemed; For contemplation he and valour formed; For softness she and sweet attractive grace; He for God only, she for God in him: His fair large front and eye sublime declared 3 0 0 Absolute rule; and hyacinthine locks Round from his parted forelock manly hung Clustering, but not beneath his shoulders broad: She, as a veil, down to the slender waist Her unadorned golden tresses wore 3 0 5 Dishevelled, but in wanton ringlets waved As the vine curls her tendrils, which implied Subjection, but required with gentle sway, And by her yielded, by him best received, Yielded with coy submission, modest pride, 3 1 0 And sweet, reluctant, amorous delay. Nor those mysterious parts were then concealed; Then was not guilty shame, dishonest shame Of nature's works, honour dishonourable, Sin-bred, how have ye troubled all mankind 3 1 5 With shows instead, mere shows of seeming pure, And banished from man's life his happiest life, Simplicity and spotless innocence!

Adam: Tree of Knowledge (4.411-36)"Sole partner, and sole part, of all these joys, Dearer thyself than all; needs must the Power That made us, and for us this ample world, Be infinitely good, and of his good As liberal and free as infinite; 4 1 5 That raised us from the dust, and placed us here In all this happiness, who at his hand Have nothing merited, nor can perform Aught whereof he hath need; he who requires From us no other service than to k e e p 4 2 0 This one, this easy charge, of all the trees In Paradise that bear delicious fruit So various, not to taste that only tree Of knowledge, planted by the tree of life; So near grows death to life, whate'er death is, 4 2 5 Some dreadful thing no doubt; for well thou knowest God hath pronounced it death to taste that tree, The only sign of our obedience left, Among so many signs of power and rule Conferred upon us, and dominion given 4 3 0 Over all other creatures that possess Earth, air, and sea. Then let us not think hard One easy prohibition, who enjoy Free leave so large to all things else, and choice Unlimited of manifold delights:.."

Eve’s Submission (4.635-638)“My Author and Disposer, what thou bidstUnargued I obey: So God ordains;God is thy law, thou mine: To know no moreIs woman's happiest knowledge, and her praise.”

Satan’s Plan (4.375-392)"To you, whom I could pity thus forlorn, 3 7 5 Though I unpitied: League with you I seek, And mutual amity, so strait, so close, That I with you must dwell, or you with me Henceforth; my dwelling haply may not please, Like this fair Paradise, your sense; yet such Accept your Maker's work; he gave it me, 3 8 0 Which I as freely give: Hell shall unfold, To entertain you two, her widest gates, And send forth all her kings; there will be room, Not like these narrow limits, to receive Your numerous offspring; if no better place, 3 8 5 Thank him who puts me loth to this revenge On you who wrong me not for him who wronged. And should I at your harmless innocence Melt, as I do, yet publick reason just, Honour and empire with revenge enlarged, 3 9 0 By conquering this new world, compels me now To do what else, though damned, I should abhor."

Satan: Why Not Knowledge?(4.512-527)

"Yet let me not forget what I have gained From their own mouths: All is not theirs, it seems; One fatal tree there stands, of knowledge called, Forbidden them to taste: Knowledge forbidden 515 Suspicious, reasonless. Why should their Lord Envy them that? Can it be sin to know? Can it be death? And do they only stand By ignorance? Is that their happy state, The proof of their obedience and their faith? 5 2 0 O fair foundation laid whereon to build Their ruin! hence I will excite their minds With more desire to know, and to reject Envious commands, invented with design To keep them low, whom knowledge might exalt 525 Equal with Gods: aspiring to be such, They taste and die: What likelier can ensue?"