The Son of God

I must admit, I haven’t done a lot of Bible study or Christian science research in my life.  I am not even sure I’ve read all of Genesis.  That being said, an interesting distinction I’ve noticed in Paradise Lost is the addition of God’s “son” as a speaking, influential character.  In the Old Testament, there is never a direct mention of Jesus, or any sort of “son of God.”  As we know, Paradise Lost brings a new perspective to the book of Genesis, a fictional interpretation, revealed through characters including Raphael, Satan and God himself.  I think the most startling and intriguing detail so far is the profound importance of God’s son, and the way in which Milton portrays him.

We first read about God’s son when God foresees the downfall of Man, and his son, in response, sacrifices himself for the salvation of mankind.  Already, the son is described as honorable, pious and benevolent, a hero to the race of man.  Why does Milton glorify the son of God in such a way, when he subtly challenges and argues against the power/ability of God as a ruling figure?  Later, the son is depicted again as a perfectly loyal and dutiful being, cursing Satan’s name for returning to Heaven.  All the angels love the son for his pious nature and honorable sacrifice, but some other deeper love and respect is hinted at by Milton.  While God rules through power, and sometimes, fear, his son leads as a beloved hero.  The two converse on all matters of importance, and yet while God is the amoral strategist, Jesus is a charismatic activist only interested in doing right where there is wrong.

So, why does he do this?  Why would Milton glorify Jesus Christ in the beginning of the book if he wrote Paradise Lost at a time when he was losing faith in the Church and its corruption?  The answer is up to the reader (or perhaps the historian) and continues to elude my mind.  This thematic inconsistency has been the most confusing part of the text so far for me, and hopefully we will soon begin to discover Milton’s purpose.  And then again, maybe I’ve totally misinterpreted the entire text and this post is completely meaningless.  Either way, I think my favorite character so far is the son of God, simply because he is so…purposefully perfect?

5 responses to “The Son of God”

  1. remashha Avatar
    remashha

    You ask a host of great questions in this post, but the one that stood out most to me was about Milton’s depiction of the Son of God. The question really made me think about Milton’s intentions. Considering the author’s dissatisfaction with the Church, his favorable description of the Son of God suggested that Milton was a supporter of dispersed -or even shared- power. Furthermore, the author’s ‘almost-likable’ characterization of Satan supports the idea that Paradise Lost intends to inspire readers to consider context and to question decisions made by authority (especially those of the Church). In the end, Milton still seems to support level-headed authority (he does not write an ‘evil God’) but his characters show that such support is not based in blind adoration.

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    1. ewingleo Avatar
      ewingleo

      Excellent response. I agree especially with the point on Milton’s support of dispersed power- I think that does well to explain the anomaly presented in my post.

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  2. Yonu Cha Avatar
    Yonu Cha

    I was thinking about how the Son of God is considered very specifically as /the/ Son of God. In a sense, that makes the kinder one more… child-like, in a sense? Which makes sense in a way, since perhaps Jesus is at an “age” where He mainly wants to help and save people while God is more focused on ruling. Both leadership styles have their place and even balance each other out well.

    The idea of Jesus Christ being more of a “child” figure combined with Halle’s commentary on dispersed or shared power makes me wonder if there’s an argument there about power shifts and spreading power between generations.

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    1. ewingleo Avatar
      ewingleo

      Certainly. I also noticed that Milton never mentions the names Jesus or Christ in the text (as far as I have noticed, could be wrong) and I was wondering if this too is purposeful. Is Jesus only the human embodiment of God’s son? Regardless, I think Milton had a reason for making all these purposeful distinctions.

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      1. yonuc Avatar
        yonuc

        I also noticed that and wondered whether to call the Son of God Jesus in my response, but ultimately didn’t want to retype “the Son of God” two or three more times.

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