Re-post

This is my revised first post. Here's the link to the first one.

"There is a place,/If ancient and prophetic fame in Heav'n/Err not, another world, the happy seat/Of some new race called Man about this time/To be created like us though less/In pow'r and excellence but favored more/Of Him who rules above. So was His will/Pronounced among the gods and by an oath/That shook Heav'n's whole circumference confirmed./Thither let us bend all our thoughts to learn/What creatures there inhabit, of what mould/Or substance, how endued and what their power/And where their weakness, how attempted best/By force or subtlety. Though Heav'n be shut/And Heav'n's high Arbitrator sit secure/In His own strength, this place may lie exposed,/The utmost border of His kingdom left/To their defense who hold it. Here perhaps/Some advantageous act may be achieved/By sudden onset, either with hell fire/To waste His whole creation or possess/All as our own and drive, as we were driven,/The puny habitants, or if not drive/Seduce them to our party that their God/May prove their foe and with repenting hand/Abolish His own works. This would surpass/Common revenge and interrupt His joy/In our confusion and our joy upraise/In His disturbance when His darling sons/Hurled headlong to partake with us shall curse/Their frail originals and faded bliss--/Faded so soon! Advise if this be worth/Attempting or to sit in darkness here/ Hatching vain empires." [Book II, Lines 345-378]

After having talked with Satan about a plan of revenge against God, Beelzebub stands in front of the council of fallen angels to speak his piece. Following impressive performances by Moloch, Belial and Mammon, Beelzebub speaks Satan’s words in a sweeter tone. Satan, the self-proclaimed ruler of Hell, set up a pretend democracy, so none of the other angels would challenge his position. He then used Beelzebub to throw his idea to the council. Satan had already made up his mind about what was going to happen; what the plan for revenge was. However, instead of laying down the law as newfound King of Hell, or being the brilliant dictator who always has a better idea, he had one of the other fallen angels introduce the idea. Beelzebub’s speech intrigued the fallen angels, who agree with Satan/Beelzebub’s idea. Satan’s plan worked perfectly.

And how crafty! It’s even hard to be mad about this one. Satan’s brilliant schemes seem to work too perfectly. In the end, they all fall apart, but he doesn’t know that yet! Instead of waging war against Heaven, or sitting back and doing nothing, the demons decide to wage a subtle war on God’s new creation; Man. This would hurt God the most, and could force him to abandon and destroy mankind due to their disobedience. Satan believes that this will not only be most harmful to God, but will also leave the fallen angels protected, because they didn’t actually attack God.

Unfortunately for Satan, his brilliant plan falls to pieces when God refuses to destroy Adam and Eve, and he and his followers were turned into snakes. God knows the inner workings of everything, and knew Satan and his followers were going to tempt Adam and Eve. He knew this would eventually lead to their fall, but tried to prevent it anyway. However, he could not stop them from eating the apple, or stop Satan from tempting them, because they had free will, and were able to exercize it, which was very important. And in the end, it showed Adam and Eve just how great and merciful God really was, which was the main intention of the story in the first place – to justify God’s ways to man.