I think God wanted to test them, but from reading the story, it teaches that when the Lord forbids you to do something, you aren’t supposed to ask questions, because he knows best. God didn’t give them the reason behind his orders, because he expected them to trust in him, which they failed to realize and do.
The “heads up” is that Adam and Eve had sanctifying grace (In Genesis it shows they had a close relationship with God before the Fall)… and they still decided to disobey.
It’s an allegory to explain the human condition. I don’t think it was ever meant to be taken literally.
Don’t be fooled: there IS a devil and he’s actively looking to turn all true believers. Pray you aren’t put to the test. God Bless you.
I just finished reading Milton’s “Paradise Lost” which attempts to answer all your questions.
The fall of the angels took place before the fall of man. Those who rebelled are allowed to tempt us, but they are on a leash, so to speak. When we resist temptation from them we grow in grace.
It depends on your background. Judaism sees the serpent as the serpent. he is wily conniving sneakiest of critters but he is still a critter. in Christian theology and in the fullness of both testaments we see the serpent as the tempter.
Exactly, Adam and Eve represent the human condition. An allegory is a story made up to illustrate a phenomenon; a way to put something in a nutshell. The ancients were well versed in their use.
Milton was a poet amongst other things, but not a theologian…and Paradise Lost and Regained are poems!
Milton did not speak for the Church. He was just a poet. Nothing more.
God told Adam not to eat, God did not tell Eve not to eat, the serpent figure slandered God, “you will not die”, with unashamed lies (not just half-truths), therefore not just a serpent, someone opposed to and anti God, the eyes of them both were only opened AFTER Adam took, which means there was no affect on Eve until Adam himself was affected. Adam blamed God for giving him Eve (this woman you gave me made me do it), Eve blamed God for the existence of the serpent.
It’s just that Milton gave great thought to theology when he was writing it and instead of calling upon a muse to guide him he called upon the Holy Spirit. Of course it’s a poem, but a very deep one full of references to the Bible. Of course Milton was very imaginative with Satan’s thoughts. Paradise Regained is also interesting. It shows how Jesus refuted Satan’s temptations in the wilderness, and the difference between the Fall of mankind and the perfect goodness of Jesus.
Even if we take the story as allegory, it still illustrates some primeval event about which (as the Catechism states): “Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God’s command. This is what man’s first sin consisted of.”
My what an open mind you have. I doubt you have even read it. Of course he doesn’t speak for the church. But he does have some very sound theology. He was a very intelligent and religious man who knew the Church Fathers’ works as well as the Bible thoroughly. You can learn things from many sources, not just the Catholic Catechism.