Summary: An eloquent, powerful epic that almost perfectly sums up the reasons why I do not believe in Christianity.
Paradise Lost is the famous epic by 17th-century English poet John Milton. Published in 1667, the poem tells the story of Satan’s rebellion against God, his expulsion from Heaven along with the rest of the rebel angels, and how he tempted Adam and Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit and fall from grace (hence the title). Its sequel, Paradise Regained, tells the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness by Satan and how he resisted the Devil’s blandishments, thereby passing on humanity’s behalf the test which Adam and Eve failed.
Paradise Lost is an epic in every sense of the word: vast and ambitious in scope, powerful and moving in its language, vivid in its depictions, its plot proceeding inevitably from the first couple’s initial bliss to their ultimate tragic fall. Milton’s Satan is one of the most three-dimensional characters in anything I have ever read. As a work of fiction,
I find it not just false, but unacceptable. Though inadvertently, Milton’s work has almost perfectly enumerated the reasons why I am not a Christian, to wit: its infinitely unjust conception of infinite punishment for finite sins; its inexplicably incompetent deity who allows his omnipotent will to be so easily thwarted; its flagrant and revolting sexism in repeatedly styling women the inferior of men in every respect; its anti-humanistic outlook that values blind faith and obedience and denigrates knowledge and understanding; and the many logical contradictions inherent in the Christian system. I can appreciate its artistic merit, but I wholeheartedly reject its theology.