Intelligence learns from its mistakes; wisdom, from the mistakes of others.
--Anonymous Proverb
My question, What caused Satan to rebel? is not new. Critics, theologians, poets, philosophers, priests, novelists and mailmen have been asking it for centuries. The problem is that none of them have provided a logical answer.
Their explanations have hitherto relied on a crude bridling of pride, envy, or sibling rivalry with freewill. Nonsense.
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| Adding pride, envy or sibling rivalry to freewill does not work. |
Of course, I am handicapped by the restrictions of causal logic. That is, if the rules of cause and effect do not hold for the initial conditions, those that preceded Satan’s rebellion, then the discussion is over; and the delicate bloodline that connects literary criticism to theology is broken.
"A bad philosopher is like a slumlord. It is my job to put him out of business."
--Ludwig Wittgenstein
THE PLAN:
2) Demonstrate the illogicity of Milton's rebellion-relative arguments through a careful consideration of the pertinent verses in Paradise Lost. John Milton was not comfortable with Augustine's (and thus Ecclesiasticus') line of reasoning and so a created a line of his own. Unfortunately this carefully crafted line tangles itself into the same snarled skein.--It posits effects as cause, rather than cause as cause.
3) Demonstrate that despite the inconsistencies of Augustinian and Miltonian logic, critics and authors alike still continue to employ them.
4) Demonstrate that all arguments, all reasons hitherto posed for Satan's rebellion are inconsistent and illogical for the painfully simple reason that they posit effects as causes: PRIDE, ENVY AND SIBLING RIVALRY ARE ALL THEMSELVES CAUSED BY SOMETHING ELSE.--I WILL REVEAL WHAT THAT SOMETHING IS, THEREBY PUTTING TO REST THE QUESTION ONCE AND FOR ALL: WHAT CAUSED SATAN TO REBEL?
4) Demonstrate that all arguments, all reasons hitherto posed for Satan's rebellion are inconsistent and illogical for the painfully simple reason that they posit effects as causes: PRIDE, ENVY AND SIBLING RIVALRY ARE ALL THEMSELVES CAUSED BY SOMETHING ELSE.--I WILL REVEAL WHAT THAT SOMETHING IS, THEREBY PUTTING TO REST THE QUESTION ONCE AND FOR ALL: WHAT CAUSED SATAN TO REBEL?
What caused Satan to rebel?
I recently read an article that deals with this question: The Motivation of Satan’s Rebellion in “Paradise Lost” by Arnold Williams. Professor Williams argues that it was not pride that motivated Milton’s Satan’s rebellion, but envy:
Milton could not "accept Augustine's dictum that Satan was evil from the beginning of his existence. The trouble with the motivation from pride is that it answers one question by asking another [my emphasis]. As the medieval theologian, Rupertus Tuitensis, writes, "Quae causae fuerint superbiendi?" It starts with the premise that Satan is evil, that he needs no motivation and hardly any occasion. But even an Iago needs an opportunity to translate his innate moral perversion into overt act. And what was Satan's opportunity?"[my emphasis]. (258)I was excited to see Professor Williams take the position that answering one question with another is unsatisfactory, but disappointed that he seems to abandon this position by the end of the article:
Without sacrificing the characterization of Satan as a proud rebel, without having to invent where invention is hazardous, Milton [in positing envy as motivation] still avoids all contradictions and inconsistencies, both of narrative and religious beliefs, and achieves a solid and convincing motivation [my emphasis] of the great antagonist. (268)
Milton achieves “a solid and convincing motivation”?! How can the illogicity of answering a question with another be considered “trouble” on one page (258) yet “solid” on another (268)?…Williams is right to assume that “Milton must have wrestled with this problem” (259), but is mistaken in asserting that he overcame the “contradictions and inconsistencies, both of narrative and religious beliefs” by trading one hall of mirrors for another. Envy confronts us with just as many questions and is just as inexplicable, for neither answers the question:
What caused Satan to rebel?
No Ordinary Angel: Celestial Spirits and Christian Claims about Jesus by Susan R. Garrett also considers the question:
In the remainder of this section I will address only one question, why did Satan rebel? [my emphasis] Ancient Jews and early Christians told different stories to answer this question, but a common thread runs through them: God favored humanity (or Israel or Adam or Christ) over the angels. Satan rebelled at this inversion of the normal order of things…Most of the angels accepted God’s preference for the ones created in God’s image. But not Satan…According to the ancient document the Life of Adam and Eve, when Michael instructed the angels to worship the newly created Adam, Satan replied, "I do not worship Adam." And when Michael pressured him, Satan continued, "Why do you compel me? I will not worship one inferior and subsequent to me…He ought to worship me.”
How does not answer the question concerning Satan's motivation? It does not address that which is responsible for his insubordination, only that he became insubordinate: “when Michael instructed the angels to worship the newly created Adam, Satan replied, “I do not worship Adam.” This does address the state of his mind preceding this reaction: “I do not worship Adam.” —Yes, but why not? This is what matters.
Mephistopheles: the Devil in the Modern World by Jeffrey Burton Russell considers the question through Vondel’s Lucifer:
Gabriel informs [the angels] that God had decided to become incarnate in humanity thus granting to humans an honor denied the angels. Lucifer envies both this honor and the innocent sexual love between Adam and Eve. [my emphasis] (94)
Russell asserts that “Vondel’s scenario raises logical problems,” but goes no further. Another disappointment.
יה & His Two Sons Satan & Adam by Morton D. Paley posits sibling rivalry as cause:
“…[F]or one who, like Blake, reads Paradise Lost day and night, Satan and Adam really are Jehovah's two sons. Both were created by God directly, without the mediation of woman, and Satan's sibling rivalry is a prime motive for his decision to destroy Adam: '. . . him who next Provokes my envy, this new favourite Of Heaven, this man of clay, son of despite, Whom us, the more to spite, his Maker raised From dust: spite then with spite is best repaid.' (9: 174-79) (221)
Again, this does not address the conditions that allowed jealousy or envy to fester and thus does not answer the question as to what causes Satan to rebel in the very first place. The other angels did not suffer the same envy—and if they did, they did not act on it. Are we to conclude that Satan was weaker than his brethren? If this is the case, then where is the argument?
Satan: The Dramatic role of Evil by Arnold Stein inquires into the subject, but concludes that this cannot lead anywhere: “apply[ing] strict logic to Satan, as though he were a philosophical position instead of a dramatic character [reduces him to an] absurdity [,a] logical consistency.” (221)
As you can see, the scholarship in my field does not supply a COMPLETE explanation of Satan’s rebellion. Envy, pride and sibling rivalry are EFFECTS. I am not concerned with effects, but causes: What caused Satan to rebel?
The current state of scholarship seems silent. Perhaps I can be of service.
Obviously a citation of this text is necessary in that it provides the basis for Russel’s (below) argument.
Augustine, and Marcus Dods. The City of God, Translated by Marcus Dods. Edinburgh, T. & T. Clark, 1949. Print.
This text provides Saint Augustine’s take on the origin of sin, (which itself is based on the reasoning in Ecclesiasticus). Augustine blames sin on pride. This is unsatisfactory: Pride may explain sin, but does not--CANNOT--explain itself. Considering Augustine’s holy-high standing in the world of philosophy, literature and theology, a demonstration of his argument’s illogicity might be worth considering.
Dante, Alighieri, Sandow Birk, and Marcus Sanders. Dante's Inferno. San Francisco: Chronicle, 2004. Print.
Though only scant attention is paid to Lucifer's initial offense (Inferno, XXIV:34), I still thought it worthy of discussion: Considering that Dante gave so little attention to Lucifer's mysterious motivation, supports my suspicions regarding the lack of contention on this issue. Milton, John, and Philip Pullman. Paradise Lost. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005. Print.
Obviously a citation of this text is necessary in that it provides the basis for Williams’ argument.
Paley, Morton D. "ה & His Two Sons Satan & Adam." Studies in Romanticism 41.2 (2002): 201-35. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.This article takes the position that it was not so much pride or envy in and of themselves, but sibling rivalry that caused the rebellion. This kind of reasoning is false and yet somehow common: Yes, perhaps, the Devil’s rivalry-based pride ignited the fires of rebellion, but that does not explain the origins of the fuel. A hall of mirrors argument.
Russell, Jeffrey Burton. Mephistopheles: the Devil in the Modern World. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1986. Print.
Much the same way Augustine based his argument on Ecclesiasticus, and Williams based his on Milton, so does Russel base his argument on that of the lesser known Joost Van Vondel, positing not sibling rivalry, but jealousy of “the innocent sexual love between Adam and Eve” as the causative agent. Another hall of mirrors.
Schmidt, Nathaniel. Ecclesiasticus. London: J.M. Dent, 1903. Print.
Obviously a citation of this text is necessary in that it provides much of the basis for Saint Augustine’s argument.
Stein, Arnold. "Satan: The Dramatic Role of Evil." PMLA (1950): n. pag. Print.
This article considers the questions surrounding Satan’s rebellion as meaningless: “apply[ing] strict logic to Satan, as though he were a philosophical position instead of a dramatic character [reduces him to an] absurdity [,a] logical inconsistency.” I disagree, to an extent. I agree with the fact that reducing Satan to a philosophical position might yield absurdities. On the other hand, reducing ANYTHING—even to the electrons tunneling their way though your optic nerves into you occipital lobes as you read this type—can be reduced to an absurdity. The reasoning of Stein’s concern, if taken to its logical conclusion, would reduce the whole of criticism to absurdity. The reason why this problem is important is that serves as an argumental safety net of sorts, a false sense of security: by stating that the reduction of X to Y--> 0, by extension, condemns the whole alphabet.
Voltaire, and Mike Shreve. God & Human Beings. Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2010. Print.
This short collection of essays spotlights the ambiguities that cloud our modern conceptions of the Devil. Through a brief exploration of his origins and evolution, Voltaire lays bare the issue: The Devil is not a single individual with a single origin, but a conglomerate figure whose history dissolves into the thick fog of sloppy theology.Williams, Arnold. "The Motivation of Satan’s Rebellion in “Paradise Lost”." Studies in Philology 42.2 (1945): 253-68. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.
This article considers Milton’s argument: It was not pride that caused Satan to sin, but envy. The reason why pride (Augustine’s “cause”) does not work, according to Williams, is “that it answers one question by asking another.” Milton could not accept this, so he posited envy-as-cause, which by some intellectual fluctuation works for Williams.—But not me: Augustine’s pride-as-cause did not satisfy Milton because “it answers one question by asking another.” Does envy pose no further questions?!
Young, Robert. Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1976. Print.
Because literal translation contracts the distance between writer and reader, this literal version of the Bible will be the only I draw from. If I am to get to the bottom of my question, then all pretenses, literary flora and the other obfuscations, must be cleared away.
Young’s translation provides the clearest English reflection of the original text. That said, the Bible is obviously necessary in considering my question. For it is in the Bible that we encounter the Devil and where we are provided many of the above referenced reasons for his rebellion. I will consider many books, particularly Isaiah, and
Jude.
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The above pieces provide many of the more popular arguments for what caused Satan to rebel. Some posit pride, others envy or jealously; one even posits sibling rivalry. And still one states that the question itself is absurd!
I disagree with all of them, and will through my thesis, demonstrate the illogicity of these arguments, while at the same time providing the logical answer to the question: What caused Satan to rebel?
