Studying Milton

I have spent my day studying the literary poet, John Milton.  He wrote his own “Christian Doctrine” that was eventually discovered in 1823. The reason it was not published was because it might have been considered heresy in his time period, 1608-1674, England.  I am studying this for a class that I am taking. If you have ever read Milton, you will understand it is a pain in the “tookus!” His work would make the most average PhD want to drink heavily or do drugs or something very erratic just to ease the mental stress of trying to understand his work.

I understand today for the first time, through his words something simple. “God is an utterly simple essence…” John Milton. Simplicity

It is true. In Genesis He created man in his image, which was a simple task. Man sinned and the perfect image that God created became a complicated force of nature at odds with itself.  It was no longer perfect. I have always thought God is beyond any human comprehension and I just read what Milton wrote, “God, as he really is, is far beyond man’s imagination, let alone his understanding.” 

Have you ever lost something and then found it right in front of you? We as a society are lost. The answer is right in front of our faces. Yet, we are too complicated to see it. We complicate everything in our lives. Since God put man in charge, there is no simple perfection anymore. With free will, there was a cost. Jesus paid the price for us. What happened? Society complicated everything again and more so. God dissolved his old covenant and made a new one.

“But, the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, no place would have been sought for another… It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant and I turned away from them, declares the Lord…By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.” (Hebrews 8:6-7, 9, 13)

The answer, open your eyes. It is right there in front of you. God –the father and Jesus—the son, they are a protective covering to all in life who seek. Immerse yourself in the word of God and create a deep soul based covenant with him to simplify your life.  

“For this reason Christ is a mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.” (Hebrews 9:15)

The same information can be found in Jeremiah 31:31-34.

“There is hope for your future, declares the Lord…” (Jeremiah 31:17)

Keep in prayer the family and friends of those killed in Austin, and the people injured in the same incident of a drunk driver driving into a crowd; Pope Francis has requested that he is in need of prayers; please keep him in prayer; continue in prayer for Brandon Ingram for peace and God’s will be done; keep in prayer Malaysia Airline 370 – passengers--their families and friends; keep in prayer each other.

God bless you all and keep you safely in His arms.

Milton Source:   Kerrigan, William. “The Complete Poetry and Essential Prose of John Milton. Random House.” NY: 2007. Pp. 1149