Posted by Henry on May 01, 19104 at 14:50:40:

In Reply to: God is Vague for a reason posted by Lisa on May 01, 19104 at 01:21:58:

I would simply like to add a few direct quotations from the book to strengthen Lisa's argument. As Lisa said, it is true in book one that Milton states, "I may asert Eternal Providence,/And justify the ways of God to men." This implies first of all that God has done something wrong which means we cannot asume God is innocent in this sequence of events. Milton's vague portrayal of God, I believe, is used to convince Christian readers more than anyone else to consider Milton's thoughts. By portraying God so vaguely, Christian readers begin to question their beliefs and when this occurs, Milton's opinions are able to penetrate their thoughts - maybe God had a guilty hand in this after all.
Also, Lisa is correct in saying that to try and obtain as much knowledge as God is sinful, which makes me believe that Milton may just be leading us on to want this knowledge so he can then throw it back at us as a sinful act. Lines 774-775 in his fourth book state this clearly: "O yet happiest if ye seek/No happier state, and know to know no more." He is telling us that sometimes ignorance is bliss and we need to just trust that God will do things for our benefit. God's vagueness tells a reader that the only way to trust in God is to have a blind faith in Him since we will never actually know Him and His true intentions.

Follow Ups:

• Re: To Strengthen Lisa's argument Mirai 08:51:22 5/03/104 (0)
• Why create sin? Lisa 16:18:25 5/01/104 (7)
  • Temptation is at fault Martha 19:23:35 5/02/104 (0)
  • Response To Lisa's Argumant--Why create sin? Martha 18:52:37 5/02/104 (2)
    • Focusing on outcome instead- just for you Martha Lisa 22:16:09 5/02/104 (1)
      • Re: Awesome summary Lisa - here's mine Henry 22:58:05 5/02/104 (0)
  • maybe paridise isnt lost after all Lisa 16:54:38 5/01/104 (2)
    • Re: maybe paridise isnt lost after all indra 21:41:12 5/11/104 (0)
    • Re: It's Felix Culpa! Henry 11:17:28 5/02/104 (0)
• Important Henry 14:53:25 5/01/104 (1)
  • Spelling Errors! Martha 19:28:19 5/02/104 (0)

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