So I started reading "Paradise Lost" by John Milton. This was a work of poetry I first read (just a snippet) when I was a junior in high school. I was very bored with it back then. But now that I am way more interested in theology and the things of God, I wanted to pick it back up. It's considered one of the best pieces of literature ever. It is a epic, depicting the fall of satan and of man. Peculiar thing is, Milton wasn't a Christian. He actually was a heretic. He denied the Trinity and didn't believe Christ was the only incarnation of Jehovah (David Hawkins, XXXVII). The amazing thing about Milton was that he was a guy who "got it" but didn't "get it." What I mean is this: it's hard to believe that someone who wasn't a Christian could write something so on target. In these lines of pristine poetry, Milton is describing why God let Satan sin against Him and why He chose to let the enemy roam the earth:
pg. 17
So stretch'd out huge in length the arch-fiend lay,
Chain'd on the burning lake: nor ever thence
Had risen, or heav'd his head, but that the will
And high permission of all-ruling Heaven,
Left him at large to his own dark designs:
That with reiterated crimes he might
Heap on himself damnation, while he sought
Evil to others; and enrag'd might see,
How all his malice serv'd but to bring forth
Infinite goodness, grace, and mercy shown
On man by him seduc'd; but on himself
Treble confusion, wrath, and vengance poured.
I'm just amazed that a man could understand grace enough to write that - yet not trust Christ.
If you have time, read this great work by Milton.
