Paradise Lost Books VIII-IX: The Gravity of Pride
"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall," as Proverbs 16:18 warns. Milton understands this with the utmost certainty. Satan, of course, is the chief provoker of pride in Adam and Eve, although Milton does not leave all the work to him. This I find particularly interesting: both Eve and Adam are depicted as deceiving themselves with prideful thoughts before and without being tempted by Satan.
Eve's thoughts of self-glorification first come to light in lines 331-334 of Book Nine. She makes clear here her thoughts on Satan's threat: "double honor" and praises from the Heavenly Host must lie in wait for all who resist temptation. These thoughts occur before the Tempter ever meets her. Adam follows a similar line of reasoning in lines 938-942. According to our common father, man sits in so high and mighty a position of favor over Creation that God would not dare to actually punish him. Eve puts herself at risk because she desires glory, and Adam disregards God's warning because he thinks infallible glory is already his (in addition to his passion for Eve, but that's a different subject).
I can only wonder just how natural pride was to pre-fallen man. It obviously came easily enough that Satan could induce Eve to sin by awakening it within her. But was it an active enough force in man's mind that it would lead them to such foolishness without the devil's influence at all? Satan was destroyed by pride alone, but I think by now we've settled the fact that angels and man are quite different.
So just how far would man's own pride have taken him? And to what extent would it have manifested without a Tempter?
P.S. I commented on Trey and that strange Brock person's posts.
Eve's thoughts of self-glorification first come to light in lines 331-334 of Book Nine. She makes clear here her thoughts on Satan's threat: "double honor" and praises from the Heavenly Host must lie in wait for all who resist temptation. These thoughts occur before the Tempter ever meets her. Adam follows a similar line of reasoning in lines 938-942. According to our common father, man sits in so high and mighty a position of favor over Creation that God would not dare to actually punish him. Eve puts herself at risk because she desires glory, and Adam disregards God's warning because he thinks infallible glory is already his (in addition to his passion for Eve, but that's a different subject).
I can only wonder just how natural pride was to pre-fallen man. It obviously came easily enough that Satan could induce Eve to sin by awakening it within her. But was it an active enough force in man's mind that it would lead them to such foolishness without the devil's influence at all? Satan was destroyed by pride alone, but I think by now we've settled the fact that angels and man are quite different.
So just how far would man's own pride have taken him? And to what extent would it have manifested without a Tempter?
P.S. I commented on Trey and that strange Brock person's posts.
Man's own self-confidence/ knowledge of his position is not necessarily a modern concept of evil "pride", but more of an understandable one. God can take pride in his work and it not be evil. Man could take pride in who he was in Creation and it not be evil. It is when he places himself in the position of God that it would be sin--to lift himself higher than what he was. Without the tempter, I do not think man's position could have been threatened by pride whatsoever, for man had a correct view of his place in creation, but when the tempter slid in doubt what that position was and twisted the truth, it became more of a problem. So, no I do not believe man would have fallen, outside of an offensive from another being.
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