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Chapter 10.
The Devil Made Me Do It

The American comedian, Red Skelton, made famous a character who excused all of his misdeeds by saying mischievously, "The Devil made me do it." Hundreds of thousands of people in Skelton's radio and television and live audiences loved the comedian and the character so cleverly imitated. No doubt they approved partly because they could so readily and completely identify with the childish avoidance of responsibility for yielding to temptation and getting into trouble.

This reminds us of Adam's and Eve's ready response to God in Genesis. Adam blamed Eve, "It was the woman you gave me" (3:12). Eve blamed the serpent, saying, "the snake tricked me" (3:13, American Bible Society's Contemporary English Version, 1995, hereafter identified as CEV).

We are not discussing here a popular theme for a comedy situation. We are discussing what several religions present in one form or another as an absolute catastrophe that mankind endured in a universal Fall. It is presented in theology, myth, psychology, sociology, and many other fields of learning in human experience. The saga of the Bible tells us that the Fall of Adam and Eve by their disobedience to God in the Garden of Eden was an enormous catastrophe. Through this tragedy came sin, suffering, confusion, failure, death, and all other anguish to human beings.

The Genesis Story of the Temptation and Fall of Adam and Eve

The facts of the story are narrated simply and directly, with the greatest economy of words, in the first thirteen verses of Genesis chapter three. God's pronouncement of judgment on the serpent, Eve, and Adam is related in a more poetic language in the next six verses.

Prefacing the entire narrative is the strong command of the Almighty to Adam in Genesis 2:16-17 telling him that he may eat from any tree in the garden except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The warning of dire punishment is clear: the day Adam eats from the fruit of that one forbidden tree, he will be doomed to die (which could be understood "to become mortal and begin to die"). It is presumed that Adam passes on this requirement for obedience to the LORD God to Eve after she is created from one of Adam's ribs (according to the "J" account).

A very cunning creature, called "the serpent," enters the Garden and the story at the beginning of chapter three. The writer does not explain who this serpent is, or where he comes from. But this serpent is a capable deceiver, and able to talk in the human language to Eve, whom he finds alone, without her spouse Adam nearby.

The talking serpent asks Eve if it is true that God has forbidden her to eat from any tree in the garden. She replies, "We may eat the fruit of any tree except for one tree in the middle of the garden. We are not even allowed to touch that tree or its fruit." The serpent answers, "That's ridiculous! Of course, you'll not die for such a little thing as that! The real reason God doesn't want you to eat that particular fruit is because when you do you'll become like God himself, knowing both good and evil."

Thereupon, Eve looks at the tree and imagines how good that fruit must taste, since it is so beautiful to behold and promises such great knowledge. Forgetting God's dire prohibition, Eve reaches out, takes some of the fruit from the forbidden tree, and eats it. Worst of all, she offers some of the delicious fruit to her husband Adam. Apparently also forgetting about God's severe warning, Adam too eats it. Immediately some new insight, self-knowledge, and shame overcome them, and they intuitively know that they are both guilty in God's eyes and no longer innocent before each other. Pathetically and vainly they attempt to hide their guilt by stitching fig-leaves together into loincloths.

Such is the story of the first temptation and fall of the first created man and woman in the earliest account in the book of Genesis. The general thrust of the story is clear. However, because there are many unanswered questions, it is reasonable to assume that later writers would use their imagination to attempt to answer them. This literary technique has been used repeatedly by many men of letters in many countries. And so it is that a great poet named John Milton used it superbly to fill in the gaps in the Genesis narrative, as we shall discuss later in the chapter.

Relevance of Temptation and Fall in Genesis to Understanding the Bible as Literature

A careful reading of Genesis chapter three as literature, when interpreted in the light of modern literary analysis, reveals the following five lessons regarding the temptation and fall of mankind:

1. The sketchy summary outline we find in the Bible leaves unanswered many important questions, and it is legitimate for inquisitive people to seek answers to those questions. The techniques of modern literary criticism, when applied to the Bible, can help find the answers.

2. Inasmuch as a great deal of the content of the Bible concerns some aspect of temptation and fall of man, or testing and judgment for failure, Bible readers should understand the significance of these crucial themes that impact on so much of our personal and social lives.

3. The Genesis 3 account of the temptation and fall contains many indications of literary art. Among them is the device of the talking serpent. Questions concerning the identity of the serpent stand out prominently at the beginning of the episode. Who is this serpent? The Bible does not say that he is Satan. If he represents Satan, how did this come about? How could he be so attractive and beautiful as to deceive Eve, who must have been previously warned?

4. One of the literary purposes of the third chapter of Genesis is to answer the question, "How did sin come into the world?" It is possible that a mythical story of the first man and woman involved in an imaginary test of behavior could be used to relate an image of testing and failure in order to provide a plausible answer to this question.

5. Another literary purpose of this Genesis narrative could be to answer the questions of the variant behavior of the different animals on earth (vs. 14-15), the suffering of women in childbirth (vs. 16), and the curse upon nature which makes it difficult for mankind to make a living (vs. 17-19).

Temptation and Fall Themes in the Writings of John Milton

We choose John Milton as the representative English writer in this literary domain because of his known literary skills and his distance in time from us, although not so distant as the Bible. His style of writing the English language is still intelligible to us, although it is not our contemporary style, as the style of the Hebrew Bible and Greek New Testament both differ greatly from current English style. If we go back much further in time before Milton, the English language comes closer to Middle English, which is more difficult for modern readers to comprehend and appreciate. One additional reason we select Milton is because he treats so clearly and specifically the themes of temptation and fall in his imaginative writings. Moreover, his literary methods and style offer fruitful comparison with the methodology of literary analysis that we advocate in this book.

Paradise Lost Book IX

Elbert Thompson has called Paradise Lost "one of the most classical, as it is one of the most Biblical, poems" in our language" (Essays on Milton 148). Although Milton uses his imagination freely to fill in some of the story which is not mentioned (but not contradicted) in scripture, he no doubt feels that his whole poem rests on sound Biblical foundations. Milton makes a connection between Eve's finding the forbidden fruit "a delight to the eyes" and I John 2:16, where the essence of temptation and sin is described as "the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life."

Many readers ask how the serpent, or the tempter, could have been wise and convincing enough to deceive Eve. Milton presents a plausible answer to this by making Satan "a supernatural fallen archangel with inherent qualities of great glory, power, wisdom, courage, determination, and heroism, all of which are directed toward wrong ends" (Sams, Temptation in Imaginative Literature of Milton and Bunyan, 99). When temptation comes in such garb it can indeed be very persuasive.

In the epic of Paradise Lost Milton explains another unclarified point of Genesis when he accounts for Eve's being alone, rather than by her husband's side, when the temptation occurs. In Milton's version Eve asks permission from Adam to work alone in another part of the garden, in order to accomplish more work. An atmosphere is thus created causing the reader to sense that this will lead to trouble, for Adam and Eve know the powerful tempter is near. Adam entreats Eve to

Leave not the faithful side That gave thee being, still shades thee and protects, The Wife, where danger or dishonour lurks, Safest and seemliest by her Husband staies, Who guards her, or with her the worst endures.

But Eve complains that Adam does not trust her, "But that thou shouldst my firmness therefore doubt / . . . I expected not to hear" (IX, 279-281). Sound familiar? But Adam is absolutely sincere in his desire to protect Eve, and she is much too overconfident about her own strength apart from her husband. Adam knows that when human reason is surprised by "some faire appearing good," it can be misled and misinterpret a situation and "dictate false, and misinform the Will / To do what God expressly hath forbid" (XI, 351-56). His final word of advice to Eve here is "Seek not temptation, then, which to avoide / Were better. . . Trial will come unsought" (XI, 364-66). Even so, Adam sees that Eve is offended and anxious. He, nevertheless, permits Eve to go and work alone, even though this is against his better judgment.

The scripture covers the essential elements of the serpent's temptation of Eve and of her failure and fall. But the Bible reveals practically none of the details of how Eve may have tempted and misled Adam to join her in eating the forbidden fruit. One might presume that Adam, being (as Milton suggests) stronger and wiser than Eve, would have been more steadfast.

In Paradise Lost Eve uses the same approach to deceive Adam that the Serpent had used on her—experience. The serpent told Eve that he had eaten the fruit of the tree, and he, rather than dying, had achieved the miraculous gift of human speech, unimaginable wisdom, and many other wonderful and god-like qualities.

Now Eve says to Adam, "On my experience, Adam, freely taste" (IX, 988). Eve's supreme value in life now is her own experience. She will reject whatever does not coincide with that experience. Additionally, she has been greatly impressed by the serpent's reference to the "Mother of Science." She imagines that, since eating the marvelous fruit, she has been initiated into the mysteries of empirical science. She can no longer believe what science cannot prove or what her own experience cannot confirm. Moreover, believing only in things seen excludes her belief in things unseen. This position therefore excludes faith which is "the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). Accepting experience as the sole reality, Eve reveals her belief only in herself and her virtual disbelief in the God in which Adam trusts. She has renounced God for self, and now she wants Adam to renounce God for her.

But why does Adam follow Eve in the great transgression, when he undoubtedly knows better? According to Milton's fertile imagination, Adam joins Eve in yielding to the temptation to eat the forbidden fruit for several reasons. Perhaps he wrongly believes Eve's report that "This tree is not as we are told . . . / but of Divine effect / To open Eyes, and make them Gods who taste" (IX, 863, 867). Adam is excessively influenced by Eve's plea "Thou therefore also taste, that equal Lot / May join us, equal Joy, as equal love."

She might as well have added "and equal death," for that is what it meant. Eve did not want to have a better or worse lot in life's joys than Adam, and she begged him to join in her new-found lot and pleasure in life, so they could continue to share equally in the good times of enjoyable days. She did not understand that when sin enters life, death also enters and begins its relentless work. By joining Eve in disobedience and attempting at all costs to keep her, Adam will lose her eventually in death.

Adam has already decided what to do. He is overwhelmed by his love for Eve. He joins her in sin not because he is deceived, but because (as Augustine said) of his "social love to her." When Adam consents to join her in her new estate, she bursts forth in the beautiful lyric: "O glorious trial of exceeding Love" (IX, 961). Adam is so charmed by Eve's beauty that he would die with her rather than live without her. Notwithstanding his reasons for doing what he did, Adam is just as guilty as Eve.

It is easy for readers to assume that there would be a lover's quarrel over this great tragedy in the lives of Adam and Eve. It is reasonable too, though the scripture does not mention it, that there probably was a subsequent reconciliation between Adam and Eve. Milton fills this gap by presenting what the literary critic E. M. W. Tillyard, former Master of Jesus College, Cambridge, in his Studies in Milton calls "The crisis of Paradise Lost" (40).

This very moving passage begins with a description of how Eve "with Tears that ceas'd not flowing, / And tresses all disordered, at his feet / Fell humble, and imbracing them, besaught / His peace." Professor Tillyard says that this emotional speech of Eve's is "the first motion of sincere, positive, good feeling after all the falseness and frustration that has followed the Fall" (40). Moreover, at the time Eve has no hope, for as far as she knows death may come in a few hours or days. She offers to take all the blame on herself: "That on my head all might be visited."

Then, with a practical outlook, she says to Adam,

But rise, let us no more contend, nor blame Each other, blam'd enough elsewhere, but strive In offices of Love, how we may light'n Each others burden in our share of woe.

At this point Adam shows pity for Eve, and he penitently acknowledges his own sin for his part in the great disobedience to God. He shows great courage in being willing to face the conditions of an unknown future life (Tillyard 41).

Adam reveals a mature religious faith and attitude, as he remorsefully says to Eve:

What better can we do, than to the place Repairing where he judg'd us, prostrate fall Before him reverent, and there confess Humbly our faults, and pardon beg, with tears Watering the ground, and with our sighs the Air Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite, in sign Of sorrow unfeign'd, and humiliation meek, Undoubtedly he will relent and turn From his displeasure; in whose look serene, When angry most he seem'd the most severe What else but favour, grace, and mercie shone?

These excerpts from the great English epic Paradise Lost cannot give a complete picture of the grand achievement of John Milton. The only way to appreciate this great work is to read it carefully as a product of the poet's imagination. However, these references should illustrate how honest questions about legitimate details omitted in the brief scriptural narratives can at least be provisionally answered by imaginative literary works of other genres and genius. At the same time such a survey can illuminate our understanding of the themes of temptation and fall, which are so relevant—sometimes under other terms and concepts—in our modern times.

Paradise Regained

Paradise Lost is the longer epic story of Satan's successful temptation of Eve in the Garden of Eden, and through her the fall of Adam and their descendants. Paradise Regained is the brief epic story of Satan's unsuccessful temptation of Jesus Christ based upon Luke's account in the New Testament. Through successfully resisting Satan's temptation Christ regained the paradise that Adam and Eve lost in the Garden of Eden. Therefore the two works of literary art must go together.

John Milton follows an obvious literary strategy when he adds details to answer questions omitted from the economical wording of St. Luke's account of the temptation of Christ in 4:1-13. As in Paradise Lost Milton invented many details of Luke's narrative, yet in doing so he did not violate the spirit of the scriptural tradition. In both works the conflict is over a great crisis of temptation, but the outcome is quite different in the two biblical epics. Both literary works have much to teach us regarding working with temptation in our human experience and about how to use a literary approach to the Bible in understanding, appreciating, and applying the temptation experience in modern life.

In the opening lines the persona narrating the story of Paradise Regained links the theme of this poem with that of Paradise Lost and in the following words contrasts the outcome of the two works:

I who erewhile the happy Garden sung, By one man's disobedience lost, now sing Recover'd Paradise to all mankind, By one man's firm obedience fully tried Through all temptation, and the Tempter foil'd In all his wiles, defeated and repuls't And Eden rais'd in the waste Wilderness.

The three temptations that Satan presented to Jesus were: (1) to turn stones into bread; (2) to accept all the kingdoms of the world with their glory and power; (3) to cast himself down from the pinnacle of the temple.

Milton divides his little epic of Paradise Regained into four Books. Book One ends with the nightfall after the first temptation. Book Two relates part of the second temptation, while Book Three continues with the second temptation. About three fourths of Book Four is occupied with the conclusion of the second temptation, then a brief account (only thirty lines) of the third temptation, ending with the fall, not of Christ, but of Satan the tempter. It is obvious that most of Milton's version of the story (900 lines) is occupied with the second temptation, that of the kingdoms of the world.

The First Temptation

The essence of the first temptation—to turn stones into bread—is to distrust God. This is indicated in Paradise Regained as Christ says to Satan, "Why dost thou then suggest to me distrust?" The temptation for Jesus to turn stones into bread to satisfy his physical hunger is a temptation to distrust God's providence. God has promised to provide for his own, and Jesus, knowing he should trust God to meet his needs for physical bread or for spiritual nourishment, would not perform a miracle merely to meet his personal needs.

Luke says nothing about the form or appearance in which Satan presented himself to Jesus. One wonders about this. It is generally assumed in the Bible and in Christian tradition that Satan can assume different guises, even "an angel of light" if he so desires. Milton presents Satan as a "rustic" in the first temptation, and in the second temptation as "seemlier clad, / As one in City, or Court, or Palace bred" who spoke in the "fair speech" of a cultured and educated courtier. In this guise he begins the second temptation, the essence of which is the "glory" and "power" of the kingdoms of the world. The tempter's first appeal to Christ is the promise of wealth that accompanies earthly kingdoms, which Jesus easily refuses, because he sees that the real temptation is for riches without virtue.

The Second Temptation

The tempter's next appeal to Christ is to accept earthly empire for the sake of the glory that comes along with it. After all, the Father enjoys great glory. What could be wrong in the Son's having some of it, too? The Savior answers by asking "What is glory?" Then he perceptively evaluates the glory of the earth in comparison with heaven's glory as a "false glory" gained "By Conquest far and wide" and by "great Battles" (III, 69-73).

Milton writes of three offers of specific kingdoms: Israel, Parthia, and Rome. Satan says to Christ, "To a Kingdom thou art born." He feels that the earthly kingdom of a restored Israel is a strong temptation for Christ, but to this Jesus replies that he will leave the fulfillment of prophesies to God without trying to test God—"without distrust or doubt." Jesus is then taken up to a high mountain and is shown "Huge Cities and high tow'r'd. . . / The seats of mightiest Monarchs" (III, 261-62). Parthia, a symbol of military strength, represents false power. Satan challenges Christ to become literally a second David, and to act decisively as his Father David did, to obtain the kingdom. The tempter asks Christ to choose Parthia or Rome: "One of these / Thou must make sure thy own" (IX, 362-63).

The answer of Jesus to this second temptation reveals how unmoved he is by this "ostentation vain . . . and fragile arms." The temptations that were "Plausible to the world" were to him "worth naught." Traditionally Satan designs his temptations to appear plausible to the tempted victims, but Jesus sees through them and penetrates their guiles without difficulty. To him war, for example, is an argument of human weakness, not strength.

The vision of Rome in all its glory and greatness presents the temptation of false justice, which Christ also rejects. He sees Rome not so much as proud towers and temples, with adorned palaces, porches, theaters, "Queen of the Earth," but as an image of the great Antichrist, and the kingdom of this world, enriched with the spoils of other nations. Satan suggests that Christ could easily replace the Roman Emperor Augustus. But Christ "unmoved" rejects this offer of "grandeur and majestic show of luxury."

Christ says to Satan,

Know therefore when my season comes to sit On David's Throne, it shall be like a tree Spreading and overshadowing all the Earth, Or as a stone that shall to pieces dash All the Monarchies besides throughout the world, And of my Kingdom there shall be no end; Means there shall be to this, but what the means, Is not for thee to know, nor me to tell.

The next element of the second temptation, according to Milton, is Satan's challenge to Christ to become famous by wisdom. This theme is associated with a vision of Athens, "Mother of Arts and Eloquence." Satan shows Christ the city of Athens, which produced so much great literature, "various-measur'd verse, . . . Lyric Odes, . . . Homer, . . . Tragedy," and their lessons of "moral prudence." From Athens also came the great orators, democracy, and philosophy. Satan tries to convince Christ that these qualities "will render thee a King complete / Within thyself, much more with Empire join'd."

Christ's reply to this subtle temptation is too long and detailed to quote here. Readers can read it for themselves in Book IV, lines 285-365. Some Milton critics have wrongly concluded that Christ's reply here seems to derogate humanistic learning and to exalt a narrow biblicism. But nothing could be farther from the truth. First of all, Christ makes clear that what he says about the lack of necessity for human or scientific wisdom applies in this particular situation and speech to himself (Christ), not to all men in general:

Think not but that I know these things; or think I know them not; not therefore am I short Of knowing what I ought: he [Christ] who receives Light from above, from the fountain of light, No other doctrine needs …"

The average human being, born of a finite and mortal mother and father, can certainly profit by wisdom and philosophy, even though it is secular wisdom and philosophy. But Milton writes the speeches of Satan in such a way that the average intelligent reader can recognize that Satan confuses and tries to equate ethical knowledge and true wisdom. In the Bible and in classical literature there is a distinct difference between the wisdom which is from above and mere human wisdom devoid of any spiritual or moral content. Two different words in Latin sharpened this distinctive meaning. Mere mundane knowledge, or a false knowledge, was called scientia, and wisdom from above was called sapientia. Satan was offering to Christ, the Son of God, false knowledge or scientia. Why would the divine Son of God, who created all things, and in whom all the true wisdom (sapientia) of God dwells, have any need for such scientia, or false wisdom?

Moreover, Satan offers this false wisdom for the wrong purpose, for fame, power, and glory in a kingdom of this world. Therefore, the Son of God, astutely considering the source, nature, and end of the subtle offer, appropriately rejects such a temptation. It is doubtful that a classical scholar in the golden ages of Greece and Rome, much less the Son of God, would have accepted such a spurious offer, had he been controlled by reason. It is almost certain that strong Christians in the Biblical, Pauline, and Augustinian tradition would not have been convinced by such a temptation, had they been ruled by reason and the spirit of Christ. Weaker believers, however, would likely have yielded to such a clever temptation.

When Christ speaks of "He who received / Light from above. . ," he uses the word "light" as equivalent to "wisdom from above." This Wisdom, which is revealed by God, and not learned from human hypotheses, provides all doctrine (teaching, instruction) necessary for the salvation of the soul. From the perspective of this interpretation, Lewalski is right when she says, "the question of the role of knowledge in its own sphere, the natural order, is never at issue in this passage" (Milton's Brief Epic 298).

Satan, accordingly, offers not just the glory of one City or Kingdom to Christ, but the glory of "all these" to Christ if he will just bow down and worship Satan. To this Christ answers, again with scripture, that we are to worship God alone.

The Third Temptation

In the third temptation Christ was tempted to commit the sin of proud presumption which would amount to forcing God to perform a miracle to rescue his Son from a fatal plunge from the high pinnacle of the temple. The spire of the temple was understood to be a sharp golden point where not even the birds could secure a footing. Satan's peaks in scorn and sarcasm, never dreaming that it would be possible for Christ really to stand there. The tempting challenge is not only to "stand," but to "Cast thyself down" (IV, 554-55). Elizabeth Pope, a recognized Milton critic, argues that this whole episode is "simply a last desperate test of identity" for Christ as the Son of God, the Messiah, and promised Redeemer (Paradise Regained: The Tradition and the Poem 94). Satan expects to see the fall of Christ from the spire of the temple. But this does not happen. Christ does not fall. He stands. It is Satan who falls.

Christ"s answer to Satan's challenge in this third temptation is concise and scriptural: "It is written, Tempt not the Lord thy God" (IV, 560-61). The biblical word "tempt" may mean "make a trial of." We must remember that Christ was tempted as a man, not as the Son of God. Satan would not have gone through this exercise of temptation, unless he had believed there was a possibility that he (Satan) could win and corrupt Christ as a man. He must have known that he could not corrupt the Christ as the Son of God. So Satan does not expect Christ to stand on that precarious pinnacle. He assumes he will fall, and in falling either be killed or sin in vainglorious presumption to save his life. Satan is "smitten with amazement" when he, himself, falls down in utter defeat. He falls not only physically but metaphorically, bewildered, confused, and condemned. The antagonist admits this when he says, " . . . opportunity I here have had / To try thee, sift thee, and confess have found thee / Proof against all temptation" (IV, 531-33).

Christ achieves greatness not in terms of the usual evidences of pagan heroic actions, but in terms of moral virtues and noble qualities of the mind and spirit. And since he does this not as Son of God, but as man, he provides the assurance that other tempted believers can find the necessary strength and wisdom to resist successfully the most difficult trials of life.

We can learn much from John Milton about using literary techniques in reading and understanding the Bible. This great classical and biblical scholar, learned in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, is widely recognized as a great poet of the English language. Fewer people, however, are aware that he wrote a great prose work in Latin summarizing his views of Christian doctrine based on the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, freely using the original languages as appropriate. This work was called in Latin De Doctrina Christiana. We shall refer to it by the English title The Christian Doctrine.

The Christian Doctrine—Milton's Systematic Theology

Milton counts himself among "those who acknowledge the word of God alone as the rule of faith" (Christian Doctrine, Book I, Chapter V, Prefatory Remarks). In the same context Milton asserts his own freedom of interpretation and right to arrive at and publish his own Christian faith, without trying to impose his authority on anyone else. He considers the authority of Scripture "inviolably sacred," yet he feels justified in refuting human interpretations as his reason, scholarship, and conscience might lead him to do so. He feels strongly that other human beings, "assisted by that spiritual illumination which is common to all . . . should . . . allow the privileges of diligent research and free discussion to another inquirer, who is seeking truth through the same means and in the same way as themselves, and whose desire of benefiting mankind is equal to their own" (Bk I, Ch V, Pref. Remarks).

If the different groups of conservative and moderate religious leaders would today demonstrate this same conciliatory mood and engage in "diligent research and free discussion" the climate of religious controversy would quickly improve.

Milton was unorthodox in some ways, but he was evidently a sincere and intelligent believer in Christianity. He also was a strong advocate of freedom in every sense of the word—civil, political, and religious freedom, freedom of the press, freedom of thought, conscience, inquiry, etc. He believed in what is today called "the priesthood of the believer," that is, in the right and ability of an individual believer to go directly to God without the mediation of any human priest or church official. He believed in the right of individuals to read, understand, and interpret the Bible, as they are led by the Holy Spirit, without any need for church bodies to think for them. His views of the Bible in The Christian Doctrine are consistent with his application of the tools and techniques of literary criticism as aids in better understanding the Bible. He regularly used the stylistic devices of the Bible and the genres and themes of biblical literature as patterns for his own poetry and prose.

Milton uses poetic license freely to invent amplified dialog between God, the serpent, Adam, Eve, Christ, Satan, and others. His rendition becomes almost like an "amplified version" of the Bible. The biblical account may give the essence of the original dialog, but no one there wrote down a verbatim account of all that was spoken in the complete narrative. There must have been more than the few words recorded in Genesis chapter three and Luke chapter four. Milton the poet fills in the blanks.

His literary genius and imaginative power can be appreciated only by studying his classical style and by reading the works themselves, Paradise Lost for the temptation and fall of Adam and Eve, and Paradise Regained for the temptation of Christ. Both poems show how Milton possessed and used what might be called "a baptized imagination" in seeking biblical truth. He thus became the inspiration of other Christian writers and critics in the lineage of C. S. Lewis, for example, who learned and applied a "consecrated inquisitive attitude" in promoting religious knowledge.

Lessons from Milton's Christian Doctrine

A careful reading of Milton's amplification of the temptation and fall of Adam and Eve, with special attention to his use of literary techniques in treating the Bible as literature, reveals the following lessons regarding the temptation and fall of mankind:

1. The proper use of the human imagination in biblical studies is not sinful, but on the contrary can be quite fruitful and productive.

2. No explanation of the temptation and fall of mankind can be credible or complete without beginning with earlier events, including the fall of Satan the archangel and his continuing warfare against the purposes of God. Only such a super-wise, supernatural being could have been capable of deceiving Eve.

3. In answering the question of how Eve came to be alone at the time of the appearance of the serpent, Milton relates a plausible conversation between Eve and Adam in which she asks permission from Adam to work alone in another part of the garden. The atmosphere of this conversation suggests trouble and possible disaster ahead.

4. Milton indicates that human reason can be misled, if we choose to misinterpret information fed to it. This is an open door to temptation and possible disaster. Things are not always as they first appear, and we human beings are responsible to remain alert and not wrongly judge or misinterpret a situation.

5. We are to "seek not temptation," because enough "trial will come unsought" (IX, 364-66).

6. Experience is not always a safe guide. The experience of others can be falsely, or selectively, related. Eve relied too quickly and completely on the serpent's (false) account of how he received his gift of speech, among other wonderful things, through the miraculous fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden. Then Eve challenged Adam to rely on her experience. She wanted Adam to join with her in rejecting whatever did not coincide with her experience.

7. Another significant point in the allurement of temptation is the appeal to empirical science. Eve was overly impressed with the serpent's oratory about the "Mother of Science," and she wanted Adam to join her in a mastery of the mysteries of empirical science. Adam must have been powerfully swayed by her arguments about the appeal to scientific knowledge, but he should have known that empirical science is not always dependable, and that its views change frequently over time. Milton's attitude toward the new science of his day is a subject of debate, but Merritt Hughes is probably correct when he writes that Milton "exalted the sciences as an enrichment of life, but he subordinated them . . . to philosophy and Divinity" (John Milton Complete Poems and Major Prose 192).

8. Both Eve and Adam decide to give up God for self. Eve tells Adam, "The tree is not as we are told." In other words, "God was not telling us the whole truth about the tree. I have another witness, and I have the witness of my own experience. God cannot be trusted. He must be keeping something from us. He must have a hidden agenda. We have to take matters into our own hands and do what is best for ourselves."

9. Why does Adam accept Eve's report rather than relying on what God said and commanded? Milton suggests that Adam did it because he was overwhelmed by his physical and social love for Eve. He was charmed by her physical beauty.

10. Milton relates how there can be reconciliation after strife and broken relationships. All married couples have quarrels sometimes. Adam and Eve also had their quarrels, beginning with Eve's request to work alone in another part of the garden. Quarreling and bitterness occurs after Eve disobeys God and leads Adam into disobedience to the divine command. One of the most moving passages in Paradise Lost is that which presents Eve's tearful and humble plea for Adam's forgiveness. Then, moving along according to practical realities, she suggests positively that they stop the contention and blaming each other, and seek to find ways to relieve each other's burden and to share together in their common woe. Next comes their reconciliation with God. With a mature religious faith, they confess to God, beg his pardon and forgiveness, and are assured of his grace and mercy. So there is life after yielding to temptation. People can recover after failure.

The Meaning of The Temptations of Christ

It is evident that Milton draws from the books of Hebrews and James in the New Testament as he describes the temptation of Christ in Paradise Regained. Hebrews makes certain important statements about the significance of the temptation of Christ in reference to the Christian believer's life:

Heb 2:18 And now that Jesus has suffered and was tempted, he can help anyone else who is tempted. (American Bible Society, CEV, 1995)

Heb 4:15 Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way. But he did not sin! (CEV)

The Epistle of James tells second generation Christians:

James 1:13 Don't blame God when you are tempted! God cannot be tempted by evil, and he doesn't use evil to tempt others. (CEV)

James 1:14 Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. (RSV)

Milton is also quite aware of the dual meaning of the word "temptation" in the Bible. On the one hand it means enticement to do wrong, but another meaning is that of testing by some kind of trial. God is not the source of temptation to do what is wrong, but he may be the source of the trial or testing of his children. In this sense, Christ was tempted by Satan to do wrong in the three temptations in the wilderness. A Christian believer may be tempted by Satan, or by his or her own desires, to do something wrong or sinful. On the other hand God, as a loving and disciplinary Father, might direct or allow his children to be tested by trials in order that they may learn, grow, and develop spiritually.

The First Temptation

What is wrong with eating bread when one is hungry? What does this mean? We read that "the devil said to him (Christ), If you are the Son of God, command this stone that it may become bread." Christ had been fasting forty days, and he was terribly hungry. Helmut Thielicke, late professor of systematic theology at the University of Hamburg, in Between God and Satan, points out that "the temptation of Jesus has its origin in a completely matter-of-fact, nay, a crudely physical circumstance: hunger" (23). This temptation did not arise out of doubt but out of deep physical need for food.

In other words, as Thielicke says, "the tempter takes hold of him through his concrete life and not through sophisticated theoretical questions" (29). Isn't this the way temptations usually come to most all of us? We desperately need, or think we need something, and God remains silent.

"If God exists and cares" is the prelude to the skeptic's question of temptation. "If you are the Son of God. . .", and if God exists and cares, then he must do so and so. And if so and so does not happen, then that proves God does not exist or doesn't care. As Thielicke writes, that is logic from Hell, not from Heaven. People are hungry and starving. No bread. No God. People are dying from senseless war. No peace. No God. From such infernal logic, the fact of God should follow the conclusive facts of plenty and peace. Otherwise, no God. Theilicke suggests that in the devil's "chop logic" God becomes merely a "premise in a syllogism" (32). If there were an almighty god of love, then there would be no wars, no natural disasters, and no disease.

The devil believes in God, but it is not the God Jesus and Christians believe in. Satan's God is "a mere puppet whom the devil, to suit his own purposes, can cause to jump and dance" and make bread and peace on demand (35). Satan believes this because he knows nothing of the touchstone of the believer's prayer. Christian believers can talk to the Father in heaven and ask for bread, for employment, for health, or whatever they think he can help them with. But undergirding the believer's prayer, and Christ's prayer, is the provision "Thy will be done" or "if it is your will."

Thus, Jesus while on earth and his followers all live by the will of God. Jesus has his own way to answer the first temptation to do a miracle to satisfy his physical hunger. He says to the devil, "I call into the arena him by whom I live. It is with him that you have to deal, and not with me. . . . I live by him entirely and not by your bread. For that reason—and for that reason alone—I am the Son of God" (Theilicke, 44-45).

The Second Temptation

The principle of living by the will of God is made central in the second temptation of Christ. This is the temptation to use God, to manipulate God, for our own purposes. It is the opposite of surrender to the will of God. When the devil takes Jesus into the holy city of Jerusalem and places him upon a pinnacle of the temple, he says to Jesus, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down: for it is written, He shall command his angels concerning you, and they will carry you in their hands, and save you from any harm." To which Jesus answered, "Again it is written, You shall not tempt the Lord your God."

This Bible-quoting demon wants to gain the power of prescribing action for God. He wants God's power at his disposal. He wants to be able to use God. Satan does not attack the Word of God, nor does he deny it. But he seeks to take a certain scriptural portion out of context and misinterpret it and wrongly apply it to a specific situation.

Such willful misinterpretation is not restricted to Satan. As Theilicke writes, others "falsify this word of God, . . . and play God against God" (55). Some Bible interpreters twist what the Bible says in order to make it appear to mean whatever they want it to mean. This is satanic hermaneutics—what Satan attempts to do in the second temptation. This is a form of blasphemy that places the interpreter above the word instead of under the word.

It is also a denial of the literary and critical method of analysis which we have advocated throughout this book. We are best served by the Bible when we read and study the Psalms (from which Satan quotes) as Hebrew poetry, then study Matthew and Luke as gospel narratives of a totally different genre.

The Third Temptation

The third temptation concerns the devil's taking Jesus up to a high mountain and showing him a vision of all the kingdoms of the world and all their glory. Satan offers all these to Jesus if he will fall down and worship him. Jesus answers, "Scripture says 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him alone'."

The meaning of the third temptation concerns a proposed shortcut to the Kingdom of God. Jesus sees the glory and splendor of Rome converted into a "Christian Nation." We can imagine that he sees himself as the Charlemagne of the Middle Ages, not as ruler of a few small papal states in a part of Italy, but as sovereign of a magnificent universal "Christian Kingdom." He could envision himself as the supreme and sole "Christian Renaissance Monarch" of the whole world. He may see himself as much more than the "Defender of the Faith" in nations like France and England, but as the supreme monarch of the world. He might even see the rise of the Western Hemisphere and his becoming "President Forever" of a thoroughly Christian United States and the other nations of North and South America. And it is all his, if he will take the shortcut of paying homage to Satan as the One Lord above God.

Jesus clearly sees what Theilicke calls "the globe in the devil's hand" (35). He recognizes it for what it is. And he firmly refuses the offer and the unacceptable condition which accompanies it. He will get all the kingdoms anyway, but he will get them God's way.

In like manner some contemporary Christian believers are tempted to mobilize and manipulate political power to achieve their sense of "a Christian nation." Or they are tempted to take a thousand shortcuts of a secular nature to satisfy their ambition for success, prosperity, and conquest—all, of course, in the name of God. They prefer to do it their way rather than to wait and trust God to do it his way and in his own time.

What We Can Learn from Milton about Using Literary Techniques in Reading and Understanding the Bible

Only when we so read and understand the Bible can we intelligently apply its lessons and inspiration to today's situations. By doing so, we may be sure that whenever we excuse a misdemeanor in Red Skelton's style by saying, "The Devil made me do it," or "it's not my fault," it is no different than Eve's saying, "The snake tricked me," or Adam's saying, "It was the woman you gave me." Such denial of moral responsibility indicates that we have already lost our paradise within, and, as long as we keep that attitude, we have no chance of regaining it.

Notes

  1. Horace Sams, Jr., unpublished dissertation Temptation in Imaginative Literature of Milton and Bunyan: Two Faces of the Puritan Persona, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, Ph.D. 1985, pp. 95-148, 181-228. All rights reserved. Many of the ideas and much of the research documentation in this section on Milton and Bunyan are drawn from this Ph.D. dissertation, printed by University Microfilms International, 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106.
  2. Augustine. John Healey, trans. City of God, XII, xi. 2 vols. London: J. M. Dent, 1945. New York: Dutton, 1945.
  3. Barbara Lewalski, Milton's Brief Epic: The Genre, Meaning, and Art of Paradise Regained (Providence, RI: Brown UP, 1966) pp. 290-98, discusses the significance of these two ideas and words in this context.
  4. Merritt Y. Hughes, ed., John Milton Complete Poems and Major Prose (Indianapolis: Odyssey Press/Boobs-Merrill Educational Publishing, 1957, 1980), p. 932.