tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4939290855438272306.post3442864506734641935..comments2023-09-19T08:52:46.269-05:00Comments on Alms for Oblivion: Paradise Lost 1piershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12042745369869839918noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4939290855438272306.post-14372863445989260662010-01-22T22:21:44.485-06:002010-01-22T22:21:44.485-06:00You raise an excellent point, Piers: Why did God s...You raise an excellent point, Piers: Why did God set up this trap? Milton does not pursue the issue, but obviously, the first sinner in the story is God, who led Adam and Eve into temptation.<br />But if we look at eating from the Tree of Knowledge as a blessing, as I do, then it wasn't a trap but rather an opportunity. Learning knowledge about one thing leads to learning about others. Everything is conencted. Knowing good from evil is knowing that the world is a complicated place and that Good may come down to choosing the lesser of two evils. And understanding this complexity leads to the discovery of science, agriculture (the sweat of one's brow), medicine, and space travel. Division of labor turns out not to be a punishment but a divine tool. Marx, to be sure, wanted to undo division of labor and introduce a world where we would raise cattle in the morning and criticize literature after dinner, but then, Marx expected all science to be discovered during the Capitalist era, thus enabling the world to move on to the final stage of Communism.<br />Milton never seemed to grasp (unless I have misunderstood him) the greatness of knowledge, and the unbreakable link between learning about morality and learning about science.George Jochnowitzhttp://www.jochnowitz.netnoreply@blogger.com