Why Read the Classics?
Thanks to my son restoring an old Amazon Kindle, I have a functional ebook reader. I’m using it to read classic works of liturature. I’m revisiting a book I read in college — Paradise Lost by John Milton. It’s a dramatic retelling of the story of the Book of Genesis including Satan’s fall, the creation of the universe, and Adam and Eve’s original sin. Milton expands with some dramatic flare what is presented in the Bible. And while his work isn’t doctrinal, it promotes interesting questions about the nature of sin and temptation.
Why Paradise Lost? I have a few reasons for picking up this epic poem. I originally read it back in college as part of a “Great Works” class. I found the book interesting but couldn’t give it the time and attention it deserved given my heavy class load. Besides, I was focused on computer science and spending time banging out code. Little did I know that programming skills would be made practically obsolete by artificial intelligence. But AI is a large reason why I’m now reading the classics.
We live in an age where everything is either summarized or simplified. We have endless feeds of 40-word posts and 30 second videos. Everything is “dumbed down” to appeal to more people and drive up clicks, likes, and ultimately data that can be sold. I learned that many first-year college students have never read a full novel, only articles and snippets. Even the SAT has changed its format on the English section to only present a small snippet of text for each question. I think there’s immense value in reading something difficult and needing to mentally “grind” on it. I’m reading both a novelization of Paradise Lost to gain a general understanding of the plot as well as the original poem. I highly encourage everyone to challenge yourself with a long and somewhat difficult piece of literature to keep your mind from degrading into a gray pudding.
Heavenly Warnings
It’s important to remember that Paradise Lost follows the same general story as Genesis but Milton “fills in” gaps to provide a larger narrative. Think of it like The Chosen. There are many parts in that show that aren’t referenced in scripture but it’s consistent with the source material. My primary observation is how aware everyone is that Satan is trying to bring about the downfall of God’s creation. After the fall, Heaven is aware that Satan would try to extract some sort of revenge. God alerts the angels that Satan is in Eden. The angel Rafael warns Adam to be on guard. Adam and Eve encounter Satan in a failed attempt to seduce Eve. They believe they will be strong enough to resist whatever Satan tries. Of course, we all know the story — Eve is duped by Satan in the form of a serpent and breaks the one command God gave her and Adam — do not eat from the Tree of Knowledge.
As spectators, we can read the Book of Genesis or Paradise Lost and grow frustrated with Adam and Eve’s fall. It’s like watching a horror movie where the characters make stupid decisions that lead to their deaths. Adam and Eve were warned and they knew the threat was real. They had every intention of keeping God’s command and not eating of the Tree of Knowledge. Unlike the biblical account which only talks about their fall itself, Milton provides a back story of just how aware they were that evil was stalking in Eden. It makes the fall that much more tragic because they had all the warning and preparation to resist.
We’re not any different from Adam and Eve when we choose to sin. We also have an immense load of knowledge and warning. We have scripture, the teachings of the Church, the grace through the sacraments, and many gifts of the Holy Spirit. We have access to the history of mankind and see the devastating effects of choosing sin over following God’s will. If we were to give any leeway to Adam and Eve, we see that they didn’t have any precedent for sin or temptation. They didn’t know the consequences of disobeying God. But we do. And yet, like our first parents, despite all the warnings and help, we still choose sin over grace at many points in our lives.
Let this be a warning to us. God protects us and the Church educates us. But He also gives us freedom. He gave Satan the freedom to rebel and Adam and Eve the freedom to disobey. We aren’t forced to love or follow God. Satan traded Heaven for Hell, and our first parents traded paradise for a difficult world of pain, toil, and tragedy. We also face choices every day. Do we choose grace or sin? And while we may say, “Of course I will choose grace,” our actions often paint a different picture. Adam and Eve thought they were strong enough to resist Satan. We too, often think we are strong enough to resist sin. We tend to underestimate Satan’s ability to deceive and overestimate our willingness to choose God over sin.
We started off November with the Feast of All Saints. The saints’ examples are a great counter to that of Adam and Eve. They used their freedom to resist temptation and choose to follow God. When you pray, ask for their assistance to steer your heart away from sin and towards God.