We Who Wrestle With Demons - John Milton's Paradise Lost (Books 5 & 6) 

This series is the most authentic and enriching content on all of RU-vid. I truly hope it is the labor of love it seems to be so that it does not end before the classics are each considered, and that each is considered with the care deserved. I don’t trust notifications and look for the next episode manually every day. And I am never disappointed when it’s not ready yet because I know it means you’re still working diligently and thoughtfully. Thank you, Rob!

I can imagine the messiah with thunder in one hand and cup of coffee in the other just riding over the enemy like a crazy Monday morning at work! Thank goodness it is just Friday! Keep slinging them Rob!

Who is ready to wrestle Satan and his evil crew?? This one gets intense! I just love Paradise Lost! Check out Ralston College below! We need to support institutions like Ralston more than ever nowadays! www.ralston.ac/humanities-ma? @RalstonCollegeSavannah

Keep the videos coming…. Appreciate it.

#1:29 oo such a beautiful line to wake one's spouses up, i have to commit this to memory bro got the wakeup rizz

Great video, it's interesting to see Milton's depiction of the fall. Seeing that Milton puts great importance on Satan and developing his character is quite eye-opening. It is like looking into our own selves and seeing our own vices presented before us.

Purely accidental, I am reading Paradise lost with a former student of mine these weeks and these videos are very helpful to guide us through the story.

Thanks!

Such an awesome story

Thanks for another great coverage. :). It's so great to see someone else going through the Harvard 5 Foot Bookshelf. I'm currently working through the "1,001 Arabian Nights" using the History track that's provided. Trying to take it subject by subject. :)

Another grest video. I am so far behind reading the Harvard Classics. Maybe I need to drink more coffee😎

#14:01 hes definitely using his words correctly but those words can be used against him also

What I love most about this video is how your interpretation of the poem differs to my own. As someone bought up in the Western, liberal, secular tradition, Satan’s rebellion against god makes sense. He was challenging the autocratic rule of a deified ruler who demanded both unconditional love and obedience from his subjects. This would be akin to the revolutions on the late 18th and mid-19th century (against autocratic rule). Granted, Satan’s not doing this for egalitarian goals (as you said, he wanted power, not freedom, and he wanted to rule instead of God). What’s interesting is that, for me, it feels like Milton was trying to make Satan deceptive and untrustworthy; just like a religious or state-funded historian would write a slanderous history of a rebellion in which the leader of the rebellion is characterised as cruel and manipulative. Would this story have read differently if Satan was portrayed as a Gandhi, Mandela, or Washington as oppose to a Caesar or Robespierre. The conclusion of the story, the tyrant remains in charge, and God uses this to not only solidify his dominion but also uses it as a cautionary tale to dissuade others from attempting similar feats. Is that truly a good outcome? Learning about other people’s interpretations of these great works has always interested me. Where and how we were raised, and how we’ve lived, hugely influences how we chose to interpret what we see, hear, and read. Sometimes it’s important to stay grounded and realise that there’s no ‘right’ interpretation, and all should be valid. Through discussing what divides us, we open ourselves to greater meaning.

Wish this all was getting more views

The story of creation/fall from grace; the ultimate soap opera 😂😂😂

3:35 I had once a dream where I was in the military and everybody suddenly wanted to say the shahada just for shits and giggles. The shahada is the prayer you say when you convert to Isalm. I refused to do that in the dream. I don't want to claim that I'm a holy person. I don't think I had any choice to influence my desicion in the dream. But so far I have not confessed to do anything in any dream of mine which I wouldn't do in the awaken state. So it is possible that Satan wouldn't tempt me in the dream with a desicion that I wouldn't do in the state of being awake. --- If I'm not mistaken you have never mentioned if you are a Christian or not. I value your desicion to keep this channel neutral in that aspect and you only focus on the literature itself. But I allow myself to be more direct. I heard it a few times that some non-Christians had some really profound spiritual experiences. And in my opinion, the most profound ones are the ones where someone gains enlightnement. They seem to conncet to the universe itself and see all of reality. As far as I have heard, those experiences often have the commonality that the people come to the conclusion that everything is one and we are all one with the universe. So far I always had the Christian response in my mind, that they may appear profound, but only as long as they don't see the full picture. After all the demons are masters of the lie and they will try to convince you of anything, as long as it is not the actual Jesus. But I was never satisfied with that response. In my opinion that is about as strong of an argument as the one which Atheists have, when they say all supernatural experiences are fabrications of our brain. It is a catch it all answer that is pretty good at filling up holes in the narrative without having to deal with the complexity of reality. I don't think that my catch it all argument is faulty and I still think it applies, but it is not satisfactory in itself. The main reason why I didn't find it satisfactory is that if those profound experiences exist outside of Christianity, the Bible should mention them in some way. But I always thought it is silent on it. Until I had a conversation with someone who had one of them. After that conversation I made many thoughts and while doing so I finally got the solution. Let's read a bit of the Bible: _Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”_ _Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”_ _Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:_ _“‘He will command his angels concerning you,_ _and they will lift you up in their hands,_ _so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”_ _Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”_ _Again,_ *the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world* _and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”_ _Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”_ _Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him._ Matthew 4:1-11 As you can see, Satan went to Jesus and showed him all the kingdoms of the world from a single place. Satan knew the following about Jesus: _Who, being in very nature God,_ _did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;_ _rather, he made himself nothing_ _by taking the very nature of a servant,_ _being made in human likeness._ _And being found in appearance as a man,_ _he humbled himself_ _by becoming obedient to death_ _even death on a cross!_ _Therefore God exalted him to the highest place_ _and gave him the name that is above every name,_ _that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,_ _in heaven and on earth and under the earth,_ _and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,_ _to the glory of God the Father._ Philippians 2:6-11 Jesus left the equality with God behind and came to the earth to save humanity. Satan, as the current ruler of the world, promised Jesus a shortcut. With such a background and such a goal, Jesus would surely be tempted by such a proposal. But Jesus rejected it, as he knew that this is not the plan of the Father. The person I talked to was not a person who wanted power and he was also not a person who justifiably deserved to be the rule of the world. He is a teacher at one of the leading universities of the world. So his temptation is in the realm of knowledge. And because of that he got tempted with the fruit of knowledge, just like Eve was in the garden. You may now ask, why would Satan say everything is one? Is that really necessary? The answer is twofold. Satan already set up an intelectual stronghold in the east which is called Buddhism. But even in the west it is nothing new. After all there have been many strands of mysticism and gnosticism in the various western cutures. So he can feel intelectually fulfilled and confirmed, as he is not alone in that secret knowledge. But I think the other point may be even more important. In the beginning of the conversation I said "As an Engineer and as a Christian, I belief there is an objective reality.". Upon me saying that he had a knew-jerk reaction to it. It was not about the objective reality. He beliefs in that too. But he reacted to me being Christian and stating it so boldly. He was certainly open to talk to me for two hours about it. But for him one of the biggest blasphemies is telling others their path to truth is wrong. Especially if we say, _"God told me that you are wrong"._ He thinks the Bible is a good start to gain enlightenment, but at some point it should be left behind. After all statements like _"I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me"_ or _"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."_ are heresies of the highest order in his view. If you think everything is one with the universe then you will also reject the claim, that there is one creater God who is seperate from us and is justified in judging our action. I don't know if those conclusions of mine are the correct ones. Even though I have evidence for Christianity, it is not intended that we have certainty while on this earth. So if I can't have conclusive proof that my understanding of Christianity is correct, then that specific realization is even less certain. But to me those spiritual experiences finally make sense and that small feeling of unhappyness with my explanation for them is gone. After all the most impactful version of them has a one to one example right in the middle of the most clear parts of the Bible. I thought these thoughts of mine may be of interest to you, and they also fit really well with the poem of the paradise lost.

#7:15 interesting bc in the Islamic tradition, angels doesn't have free will, only human and jinns and satan is one of the jinns just like Adam is a human

9:08 interesting there because in Islam that story is a little different, satan become satan because he refuses to bow to Prophet Adam AS and not Prophet Jesus