book of Paradise Lost, Milton again forgets his orthodoxy, and reverts to the Book of Enoch: Meanwhile at table Eve Ministered naked, and their flowing cups With pleasant liquors crowned. O innocence Then had the sons of God excuse to have been Enamour'd at that sight; but in those hearts The sons of God here are certainly the angels, Adam being already "enamour'd." 22 P. L., V, 443-49. I CHAPTER II THE CHRISTIAN ERA N Jewish speculation immediately before and about the beginning of the Christian era, there developed a tendency to refer the origin of evil to the fall of man, seen especially in the fourth Esdras. Paul is, to a certain extent, heir to this general tradition. But his importance is such that it is preferable to consider him separately. I. PAUL For Paul, Satan as yet seems to play no part in the fall of man: "by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." For Paul, as for the ancient Hebrews, the serpent who tempted Eve was merely a serpent, and Paul nowhere identifies him with Satan: "the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty."" Paul's chief interest is not in the myth, but in the human psychology of the Fall. He seeks the source of evil in man himself; and he finds it in "the flesh," that is to say, passion in general, and more particularly, sensuality. Milton, naturally, follows Paul as closely as he can, and grounds his own opinions as frequently as possible on this solid basis of Christianity; the De doctrina, in many of its most important parts is mainly a commentary on Paul; ' naturally also Milton uses Paul, 1 Romans 5:12. 2 II Corinthians 11:3. 3 3 The necessary work on this has been done by Sumner in his edition of the De doctrina, as has most of the theological work. It is the historian of religions that must investigate Milton now. as he uses the whole Bible, to prove what he likes, and follows Paul no further than he cares to go. Here are the chief Paulinian texts from our point of view: Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance. . . . The body is not for fornication, but for the Lord. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.5 And I Corinthians 7, entirely: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife and let every woman have her own husband. . . . I speak this by permission, and not of commandment. For I would that all men were even as I myself. . . . I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn. Ephesians 5:22-23 is likewise important: Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the Church... This enables us to see how far Milton follows Paul. "To avoid fornication" becomes: By thee adulterous lust was driven from men And "the husband is the head of the wife " becomes: He for God only, she for God in him. But Milton refuses to follow Paul in accepting marriage as a necessary concession; and in a passage com 4 Galatians 5:19-20. 5 I Corinthians 6:18. 6 menting on "the body is for the Lord, and the Lord for the body," he concludes: "for marriage must not be called a defilement." The flesh is not naturally evil for Milton. Fornication is the Fall, but "wedded love, as saints and patriarchs used," is holy and good. Milton has on this essential point entirely broken away from Paul; he knows of a sensuality that is legitimate, and even "commanded."" Yet another of Milton's most important ideas is sanctioned by Paul: "Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." for Milton, Adam fell For Paul, as Against his better knowledge, not deceived, II. LATER JUDAISM Before and around Paul, the elements of what was to become the Christian tradition on the Fall were being shaped. About the first half of the first century after Christ, the Jews came to the idea that Satan and the Serpent were one." The ways had been prepared for this notion. The Wisdom of Solomon 10 had said: "Through the envy of the devil death entered the world." But that was not very precise yet. The Book of Enoch " had said that one of the fallen angels had seduced Eve, but this was contradicted by the rest of the book, in which the angels fell later than man, and it remained a passing trait. 6 Apology for Smectymnuus, in Prose Works, III, 122. See above, p. 46. 7 See above, pp. 155 ff. 8 I Timothy 2:14. 9 Bousset, p. 469. A Jewish Life of Adam of the 1st century is the principal proof. 12 But at last the Jews in the first century connected the two origins of evil. The fall of man, from being a confused and obscure legend, took on a definite meaning, and became the source of all evil and suffering for mankind. A curious legend of the same time 12 tells that after the creation of man, God ordered the angels to worship Adam. Satan refused, and was consequently driven out of Heaven. But he avenged himself by inducing Adam to eat the apple. This legend is extremely logical, and ought to have prevailed. Adam is here the direct cause of Satan's misfortune, and not an innocent victim. Satan's behavior is much more human (if the expression is permissible in this case) than in the orthodox tradition. But there was more. Jewish Gnosis 13 identified Adam with the Son of God, the promised Messiah. So here is perhaps the first origin of the idea that Satan rebelled through envy of the Son; Milton adopts this for poetical purposes without believing it. But there were theologians at the Reformation who held the theory. Calvin condemns them severely in his Commentary on Genesis. The Jewish beliefs about Satan's rebellion and the war in Heaven probably passed into The Revelation. In any case The Revelation is an important source for Milton's tale: a great red dragon. . . . And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth. . . . And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels. . . . And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan and his angels were cast out with him." 14 12 Bousset, p. 469. This is found also in the Koran, 20:115. 13 Cf. Bousset, p. 558. 14 Revelation 12:3-9. |