Thoughts on Paradise Lost

I had never read Milton, and had no idea that this was a work with implications as much political as religious. The anointing of the "Son of God" before even the creation of humankind was no part of the theology I learned, and is, like the whole Lucifer/Satan/fallen angels story, no part of scripture. So Milton's famous epics seem to me very much a reflection of the debates of his day, allegories of the strife in both church (individuals seeking salvation versus Roman hierarchy and popes) and state (challenges to monarchy.)

What I find most interesting is that Lucifer/Satan is a decidedly more sympathetic character in this excerpt than I expected. He is the one who defies absolute monarchy and unreasoned allegiance. Pride is attributed to him as a besetting and ultimately damning sin -- and pride there certainly is. But the kind of pride he manifests in his rebellion seems uncannily similar to the pride of the caudillos who rebel against the high-handed hegemony of the imperial U.S. ruler.

And, of course, to accept the continued domination of the pope, one must concede to him the divine sanction formerly also accorded to monarchs -- on no very obvious grounds.