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Christian vs. non-Christian readers


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Paradise Lost Summary

Christian vs. non-Christian readers

. Readers always respond to works of 

literature in terms of who they are and what they bring to the text in terms of 

their own values and worldview. But Paradise Lost is in a category by itself in 

this regard. There is a long tradition, still dominant in the secular classroom, 

that claims that Satan is the sympathetic hero of Paradise Lost and God the 

unsympathetic villain. Secondary claims then accompany this major premise

because Milton portrays Adam as the head of the family, Milton is a misogynist 

(hater of women).

Christian readers of this guide should turn a deaf ear to these claims. The 

claims come from readers who are hostile to Christianity. Milton took his mate-

rials from the Bible, and Christian readers surely operate from the same prem-

ise. Non-Christian readers misread the Bible in the same ways that they misread 

Paradise Lost. There is so much good and edifying material in Paradise Lost that 

Christian readers should concentrate on it in a spirit of celebration. They should 

refuse to allow themselves to be diverted from relishing a Christian poem by the 

claims of readers who operate from a non-Christian orientation.

Paradise Lost.526206.i03.indd   14

1/3/13   4:19 PM





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