失乐园主题论文英文版

I am from America. Hope this helps!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, it is superb. However, as a depiction of actual events, 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.When viewed as two parts of a whole, Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained give a very consistent message. That message is this: Doubt is evil. Critical thinking is evil. Reason is to be denied and denigrated. Seeking to understand the world is at best unprofitable and pointless and at worst a straight road to eternal torment. Instead, virtue consists of absolute obedience and blind belief: as Satan mused, ignorance is indeed "the proof of [our] obedience and [our] faith". As has been noted, the arguments given by Satan in these books make sense, more so than the replies. Why should God have let the devils out of Hell when the only purpose that served was to allow them to drag others down to damnation? Why should God value ignorance and envy those who gain knowledge? Yet we are not to give these arguments any serious consideration; the appropriate response is to dismiss them out of hand. In Milton's theology, moral goodness consists of rejecting the desire to learn, ignoring all contrary arguments, and when doubt arises, overcoming it by redoubling one's belief. For those who do seek to question and learn, the story of others who did the same and fell into misery for it - bringing upon us all the misery that anyone has ever experienced in the process - is presented as a cautionary tale. The message is as subtle as a sledgehammer blow. As human beings, we should all be appalled by this kind of willfully ignorant superstition. Our rational, reasoning mind is the most precious thing we possess, and used in the right ways, it can achieve astounding things. In the centuries that have passed since Milton first set pen to paper, the previously inconceivable advances we have made as a result of our dedicated quest to understand the universe through science more than vindicate the humanist philosophy and discredit anti-intellectualism such as this. Even Milton's own epic shows that knowledge is superior to ignorance. Raphael's long monologue telling Adam who and what Satan is and warning against listening to him does not appear in Genesis. Is this Milton's tacit admission that in the Eden story as written, God is left culpable by not providing humanity with sufficient warning? Has it occurred to him that Adam and Eve's enforced ignorance was the very thing that made them so vulnerable to Satan's guile? Even in an epic where the author offers himself ample opportunity for apologetics and self-justification, the logical problems with this theology shine through. God's defenses of his actions are insufficient, and Jesus' responses to Satan's arguments are often patently weak and flawed, but Milton always depicts Satan as being stung and left overwhelmed and speechless by them. Of course, in real debates against knowledgeable opponents where the outcomes cannot be so easily scripted and controlled, Christian apologists rarely fare as well. I am aware that not all Christians believe the same as John Milton. I realize that many reject the doctrines of the inequality of women, condemnation for honest questioning, and the literal interpretation of Genesis altogether. I applaud this courage, but it cannot be denied that many of these ideas are explicitly taught in the Bible. The solution is not merely to discard them and retain belief in the rest of the Bible - the solution is to set the Bible and its anti-humanistic claims aside entirely. There was no past Paradise from which we fell for the crime of wanting to understand the world. There is no future Hell awaiting those who dare to question and think for themselves. There is nothing for an honest investigator to fear. We are not fallen, we are not sinners, we are not wretches. We are human beings, all equal, and when we finally awake from the mythological dreams of our past, we will know and understand the much brighter light of the world as it truly is - and in that understanding lie the true keys to an earthly paradise.