Godly Justice

717 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Paradise lost as a christian epic

Skepticism about religion is just as old as religion itself. There always have been, and always will be doubters. Over time, some have felt the need to solidify their faith, and champion God. This was John Milton’s quest when he sought out to write Paradise Lost. He thought the time had come that he did his church a service. He found his opportunity when it came time for a question to be answered: If there is a god, why is there evil? According to Josepha Morbey, “Milton believes that God is all-powerful, all-seeing, and entirely good, and yet there is evil in the world. For Milton, this is a problem.” Indeed it is a problem, because many people disagreed with this. In order to answer the question of evil in God’s presence, Milton wrote Paradise Lost. John Milton’s Paradise Lost will be critiqued for its content, execution, and impact in relation to theodicy.
Initially, John Milton’s Paradise Lost can be critiqued for its contents pertaining to theodicy. To understand the story of Paradise Lost, you need to understand the question Milton intends to answer. In the opening of the poem, he writes “That to the heighth of this great Argument I may assert Eternal Providence, And justify the ways of God to men. (Book I, Lines 24-16)” It is by no means an easy task. Especially when put in the words of Covington, who writes “Traditionally, the most central source of enmity between God and philosophy is the problem of evil. In the vast field of arguments for or against the existence of God, it alone seems to have much strength or possible validity. A simple version of it could be stated thus: 1: God is an omnipotent, omnibenevolent being. 2: An omnipotent being has the power to prevent all evil, and an omnibenevolent being has the will t...

... middle of paper ...

...rutiny by his readers.” It is true, this is an ambitious claim to make. But if you don’t over-analyze it, and read it for what it is, Paradise Lost is the direct origin of modern theodicy.

Works Cited
Covington, Matt. "Paradise Lost: A Theodicy." Thesis. N.d. Print.
Dink, Michael. "Lead Us Not Into Temptation: Milton's Paradise Lost." Http://www.stjohnscollege.edu/. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
Landrum, Robert. "Religious Contemplations: The Problem of Evil (The Christian Theodicy)." Religious Contemplations: The Problem of Evil (The Christian Theodicy). N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
Martin, Jessica. "John Milton, Part 3: Does Paradise Lost Really Attempt to Justify God's Ways?" Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 12 Dec. 2011. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
MOrbey, Josepha. "Milton's Theodicy in Paradise Lost." Http://web.ncf.ca/. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Predestination in Book III of John Milton's Paradise Lost

    1629 Words  | 4 Pages

    Milton's purpose in Paradise Lost is nothing less than to assert eternal providence and justify the ways of God to men - a most daunting task.  For Milton to succeed in his endeavour, he has to unravel a number of theologiccal thorns that have troubled christian philosophers for centuries.  Since his epic poem is, essentially, a twelve book argument building to a logical conclusion - the 'justification of the ways of God to men' - he will necessarily have to deal with these dogmatic problems, and, in doing so, reveal his own take on the Christian theology.

    Read More

  • Paradise Lost

    2843 Words  | 6 Pages

    The seat of faith resides in the will of the individual and not in the leaning to our own reasoning, for reasoning is the freedom of choosing what one accepts as one’s will. In considering the will was created and one cannot accuse the potter or the clay, Milton writes to this reasoning, as “thir own revolt,” whereas the clay of humankind is sufficient and justly pliable for use as a vessel of obedience or disobedience (3.117). The difficulty of this acceptance of obedience or disobedience is inherent in the natural unwillingness in acknowledging that we are at the disposal of another being, even God. One theme of Paradise Lost is humankind’s disobedience to a Creator, a Creator that claims control over its creation. When a single living thing which God has made escapes beyond the Creator’s control this is in essence an eradicating of the Creator God. A Creator who would create a creature who the Creator would or could not control its creation is not a sovereign God. For who would not hold someone responsible for manufacturing something that could not be controlled and consider it immoral to do so? To think that God created a universe that he has somehow abdicated to its own devices is to accredit immorality to the Creator. Since the nucleus of Milton’s epic poem is to “justifie the wayes of God” to his creation, these ‘arguments’ are set in theological Miltonesque terms in his words (1. 26). Milton’s terms and words in Paradise Lost relate the view of God to man and Milton’s view to the reader. Views viewed in theological terms that have blazed many wandering paths through the centuries to knot up imperfect men to explain perfect God.

    Read More

  • Leadership in Milton’s Paradise Lost, Cavendish’s Blazing World, and Othello and Hamlet

    5220 Words  | 11 Pages

    Milton, John. Paradise Lost. 1674. Ed. Scott Elledge. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1993.

    Read More

  • Obedience: The Odyssey to Freedom

    645 Words  | 2 Pages

    Unfortunately, human nature only lends itself to the assumption of certain abstract concepts such as `natural law', an assumption Milton develops in Paradise Lost. Throughout Paradise Lost, Milton expands upon the teaching that human actions affect human freedom and that this is a consequence of the assumption of the natural law that the Creator owns the created. Moreover, the created freely subordinates itself to its Creator.

    Read More

  • The Golden Thread

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    The words, good and evil, and right and wrong, have been interpreted with ambiguity over the course of generations by humanity, and the finer details of their ethics are still obscured to even the most intelligent of minds, leaving us to often stay with the few basic tenants that seek to preserve humankind’s further existence. Throughout John Milton’s Paradise Lost we encounter this constant struggle between good and evil, as the enigmatic and eternal Satan—a character who is perhaps the chief hero, and protagonist of the epic poem—wages vain war against God’s tyranny in heaven. Satan, like all angels, is acutely aware of the differences that separate the abstract philosophies of what is considered to be right and wrong. And much like the theologians before him, Milton suggests that mankind, much like the angels of heaven, has also always possessed the ability to discern good from evil. However, Milton’s humanity—unlike the angels of heaven—has been given the opportunity of disobedience through the cursory act of consuming the fruit grown from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge. This brings to question whether mankind’s choice of damnation was illusory, and that Eve was destined to eat the fruit of the tree, to be untouched by all but the divine hand of God, or that all beings under heaven must answer to God for the actions they took. While human views on fatalism are open to interpretation, Milton suggests throughout his work that all beings under God’s domain possess the ability to choose their fates, and govern their own destiny. This coincides with the views of the Rabbi Maimonides, and the dialogue of the angel Raphael.

    Read More

  • Knowledge Grows on Trees

    1533 Words  | 4 Pages

    ’”(Sherry) It Milton’s theodicy that often people struggle to understand, yet when they read between the lines the true meaning becomes apparent. Many argue against the existence of a God at all because of the terrible things that have occurred throughout the history of the world, Paradise Lost is the author’s attempt to explain to those with much less knowledge the reason for bad things happening to good people or to anyone at all. Milton argues that it is an individual’s free will that allows Satan into their own Garden of Eden and pollutes the purity that once existed. The argument is that if God is an all loving and all powerful being, why does he allow awful things to happen in this life?

    Read More

  • The Elaborate Role Of Religion In British Literature

    1915 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...t, Stephen, gen. ed. “Paradise Lost.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 9th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, 2012. Print. 36-39.

    Read More

  • The Power of John Milton’s Paradise Lost

    2212 Words  | 5 Pages

    The attention Milton gives to each character, and their specific personality, allows us to interpret their actions as consciously chosen deeds within the larger framework of the poem. Great detail is given to the idea of "creation". Beyond that of the creation of the world in Book I, there are many instances where the act of creation itself becomes an act of endowing power on some object or person. The most obvious example would be the creation of Adam and Eve by God. By creating the pair, God, desires them to glorify His ways through their praises and deeds. He gives them enough power over their destiny to choose to worship Him as the Almighty. The fact that they have free will is important to God because they choose to give Him praise despite any outside temptation. There is one obvious drawback to this kind of power. They chose to follow Satan’s beguiling words. The fact that they had the free will to follow Satan’s words meant that their decision was cosmically more important because it was arrived at through conscious thought. We can see this idea of power demonstrated throughout Paradise Lost. The dual relationship between the beneficial act of bestowing power at the time of creation and the negative side of the free will to use that power freely, shows up within every character. Instances of creation appear in every book, and can be associated with every character. Some of the first appearances of the word "author" are connected with the idea of creation. In Book III, the throngs of assembled angels say,"Eternal King, the Author of all being/Fountain of light, thyself invisible/..." (III, 376-7) Here God is portrayed as the great originator of everything in all of creation. To be the "author" of something is to be the creator, much the same way as Milton himself is creating the world of the poem. In virtually every instance the act of "authoring", is associated with images of primacy and legitimacy. The ultimate act of creation, that of shaping the physical world itself, brings about another reference to this idea.

    Read More

  • Milton’s Paradise Lost

    410 Words  | 1 Pages

    Critics of the Romantic Period have claimed that John Milton was unconsciously allied with the forces of evil. In Paradise Lost Milton’s accounts of “Devils & Hell” are much more elaborate and awe inspiring than those of “Angels & God.” Hell and Satan are portrayed extensively whereas the reader is given brief and inconclusive glimpses of Heaven. The apparent dichotomy is explained by William Blake: “The reason Milton wrote in fetters when he wrote of Angels & Gods, and at liberty when of Devils & Hell, is because he was a true Poet and of the Devil’s Party without knowing it.”

    Read More

  • John Milton's Paradise Lost as Christian Epic

    1144 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout Paradise Lost, Milton uses various tools of the epic to convey a traditional and very popular Biblical story. He adds his own touches to make it more of an epic and to set forth new insights into God's ways and the temptations we all face. Through his uses of love, war, heroism, and allusion, Milton crafted an epic; through his references to the Bible and his selection of Christ as the hero, he set forth a beautifully religious Renaissance work. He masterfully combined these two techniques to create a beautiful story capable of withstanding the test of time and touching its readers for centuries.

    Read More

  • Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Milton’s Satan of Paradise Lost

    1831 Words  | 4 Pages

    Loewenstein, David A Student Guide: Milton-Paradise Lost, 2nd Edition Cambridge University Press, 1993, Second Edition 2004.

    Read More

  • Milton’s Paradise Lost

    1419 Words  | 3 Pages

    This essay-like commentary is aimed at discussing how John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667) conforms to the genre of Epic or Heroic Poetry. In order to achieve that first they will be enlightened the similarities of this work, in both form and content, with the general characteristics of the genre. Afterwards, a closer look will be provided to the way Milton’s work incorporates and adapts the elements that the classical period and Old English added to Epic. Finally, a conclusion will be determined.

    Read More

  • The Fallen Angels in John Milton's Paradise Lost

    2066 Words  | 5 Pages

    Milton. New York: Norton, 1957. Elledge, Scott, ed., pp. 113-117. Paradise Lost: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Sources.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Eternal Providence And Free Will In Paradise Lost

    1181 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the opening lines of Paradise Lost, Milton wastes no time conveying to his readers what his purpose in writing the epic is. He writes in the beginning that he intends to “assert Eternal Providence, / and justifie the wayes of God to men” (I. 25-26). What exactly does this mean though? In order to be able to clearly judge and evaluate what these lines imply, it is important that one understands what exactly Milton’s thoughts we regarding “Eternal Providence” and the “wayes of God”. Stemming from this idea, it is important to also realize how the idea of free will intertwines with the omniscience of God. For Milton, God’s omniscient did not constrain the free will of Adam and Eve. However, this idea presents the reader with a paradoxical situation that Milton as an author was fully aware of. Paradise Lost presents the reader with eternal providence and free will as being part and parcel of each other, neither constrains the other, and it is these two aspects, along with that of knowledge that lay the groundwork in understanding Paradise Lost.

    Read More

  • Rewarded Obedience

    2080 Words  | 5 Pages

    Milton, John. Paradise Lost. Ed. Scott Elledge. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.,

    Read More

More about Godly Justice

Open Document