The first understanding
Something I found interesting in Book 8, is that in Adam's retelling of how he came to be, he understands right off the bat that someone created him. He says, "... tell if ye saw how came I thus, how here. Not of myself: by some great Maker, then..." (line 277-78). And he talks more with Raphael about an understanding that the animals had to be created and how there HAD to be some greater power to make all things become. I just find this idea super interesting. Before Adam had any other thought, he knew that someone greater had to have created him. That he did not just exist out of his own power. This is an idea, I think, that is lost in our society today. I find it refreshing to think that Adam trusted he did not create himself. And I know in the Garden, he and Eve walked and talked with God (as we know later in Book 8), but I just wish for our society there was an innocent trust that someone other than human beings are in higher power. It is just humbling to think that the first man knew he didn't create the whole world.
I commented on Ty's and Nate's!
I commented on Ty's and Nate's!
I completely agree! Just like it is stated in the Bible, humans have a responsibility to recognize that God created everything, because it is clearly proven through creation. Maybe a question I think could stem from this is why do we seek to create new ideas of how we came to be? What aspect of believing that God didn't create us is appealing? One might say it is sensible and logical that we came to be from mere chance and explosion, that we evolved but there are so many problems with these theories that can't be explained: the difference is that they choose not to admit that aspect and would rather attribute it to chance. I really think however that it is an attempt to gain control over how we came to be, when the reality is there is no way to truly understand how everything works together and how it started.
ReplyDeleteI really like where Phillip took this. We as humans really do hate the fact that we cannot control every aspect of our lives and that we cannot fully fathom so many things about God. But as we try to really understand God and his works and being, are we not the same as Satan in Heaven trying to identify as the same "level" as God? We cannot truly wrap our minds around God for a reason. Though as humans, we simply do not want to accept that.
ReplyDelete"For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse." -Romans 1:20
ReplyDeleteBoth of you raise excellent points. Milton does a grand job of exhibiting the point of creation through Adam's account. He realizes the power of God almost instantly. It is interesting to see the difference that occurs between Eve and Adam's accounts. Where Eve is initially focus on her own appearance and later gives credit to God, Adam immediately sees past himself to God. It is fitting when we consider how Adam is the one who receives word from God first, then Eve receives instruction from Adam. It follows the created hierarchy portrayed by Milton.
Don't you think it's odd that he "wakes up" -as it were- alone? I suppose I had imagined God right beside him from the beginning, like those occasional mornings when your mom would come in and wake you up really nicely (for me it was rare but it's nice to imagine, right?). Milton definitely has a great imagination, I'll give him that. I also think it's interesting that Adam is asking Raphael about how he was created, that kind of seems like the sort of talk he and God already would have had. I mean, even little bitty kids ask their parents about where babies come from, you'd think Adam's confusion about his beginning would be one of the first things for him to ask about!
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