Tuesday, October 26, 2010

God's intentions with fallen angels (rd 2)

(good and evil) The fallen angel from lines 143-157 wonders why God let the them, the rebels in punishment, keep their minds and spirit. He mentions how miserable he is because he can remember the pleasures and happiness of heaven in contrast to his new world. In a way he is questioning the "goodness" of God. If God is good and forgiving, why does he send Satan and his followers out of heaven with out a chance to ever return? Or does God even send them to Hell like Milton says? I keep thinking of Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. Lord Voldemort constantly tells Wormtail that he is only loyal to him through fear. Would it be arguable to say that angels in heaven and men may follow God and worship him out of fear of hell and God's power to put them there (if he even does so)? Is this why the bible, Jesus, and God's messengers say "Do not be afraid" before they speak of God's plans? Since God is omnicient, he would have anticipated Satan and his followers starting an unending war, and let it happen knowing that the fallen agnels would serve as examples of those who turned against God or disobeyed him. (A possible strategy of God's.)

(Problem) However, did God actaully create and place satan into the underworld? If heaven is such a rightous, happy, and suitable place, how could a conflict or desire to turn against God could not possibly occur? I do not remember the bible containing any statements of a war or conflict in heaven either. Rather, Satan is described as simply wanting to turn away from God. If your happy, why would you want to turn away? The stories that I have learned from my parents, church, and Paradise Lost are starting to conflict with each other. I'm rather confused about how a rebel against God came to be. I think this paragraph connects with a previous entry about the accuracy of the events that are in the Bible. Anyone can walk home and tell a story about speaking with God, but how many would do so and then publish volumes of their experience?

1 comment:

  1. Great insights and questions. Some Milton will address later in the poem. You might be interested in researching some of Milton's Canonical and non-Canonical sources for the war in Heaven, etc, from the Apocryphal writings we mentioned in class. I have a History Channel video on some of them.

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