| Research Abstract |
in Paradise Lost (PL) God's government not only extends to every corner. God's will controls history. Nothing can slip out of God's hand. Even God's dispatch of Raphael serves to "justify the ways of God."
Near the opening of PL Book 5, God, moved to pity for the human couple who are doomed to fall, sends Raphael to give them necessary forewarning in order to render them inexcusable when they do transgress. Although it has been considered that God is contradiction Himself here, this scene in effect illustrates how God reconciles justice and mercy. God has perfect foreknowledge. God foresees that Raphael will give Adam necessary information which will help man regenerate and cope with the degeneracy of the world after the inevitable Fall.
Raphael teaches Adam not only the triumphant Christ but also the condition of His power: obedience to the Father. In the fallen world the perfect model for man to follow is Christ. After the Fall, Michael teaches Adam the patient Christ, who is to humble Himself even to the death of the cross. He also adds that because of Christ's thorough humility, the power of the Father is revealed in Christ, crushing Satan's works. Struck by the extent of Christ's humility and convinced of the might of weakness, Adam resolves to follow the perfect example of Christ.
Thus God, foreknowing everything, sends Raphael to Paradise to have His will done.
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