Anish Agrawal May 2, 2012 Development of Western Civilization Dr.

Reeder

Obedience to Authority Leads to Real Happiness Authority is defined as the power to give orders or enforce rules with the ability to gain the respect of people. It is a fundamental requirement for a controlled and well-ordered society. Human civilization has always experienced authority either by the Holy Spirit or by humans themselves. However, there are times when authority has value that puts it beyond interrogation and, there are times that it seems so malevolent and evil that mere questioning is not enough and the nature of authority is challenged or invoked. Miltons Paradise Lost reveals the supreme authority (All authority) of God. This authority, having its own ways of defining life cannot be doubted and if challenged, the result is always the downfall. Paradise Lost depicts the circumstances where Satan challenges the supreme authority primarily due to pride too deeply fixed in the challenger to be easily plucked out. In contrast, Thomas Mores Utopia depicts a place where no one is poor and although no one owns anything, everyone is rich. But for a place like Utopia, controlled and well-ordered, there has to be the existence of authority though the authority may not be challenged due to the nature of the society where everyone is equal. The path of obedience is not easy and, pride and disobedience may cause one to challenge the authority but, once realized that it is for the common good, one achieves real happiness.

In Miltons Paradise Lost, Gods authority is the supreme authority which is challenged by Satans pride and the disobedience of Adam and Eve. The authority maintained by God has value that puts it beyond interrogation. However, when the Heaven was still at peace and God announced to the angels that he had begotten a son to rule at his right hand, one of the angels got angry out of pride and challenged Gods authority. Pride is a serpent from hell that twines itself around the hearts of men. It acts like the suckfish in holding them back from choosing a better way of life. Satan, being disappointed on not getting the same honor from God, erects his own throne in heaven and persuades his fellow angels not to allow the God to rule them unjustly. Burning in rage with pride, the devils in Hell plot their enduring resistance to Gods power. Consumed by despair, Moloch, one of the devils who fought in heaven against the God, says, His trust with thEternal to be deemed/Equal in strength, and rather than be less/Cared not to be at all; with that care lost/Went all his fear; of God, or Hell, or worse,/He recked not. (PL II: 4750) The pride of being one of the highest archangels pushed the devils to go against Gods authority and challenge its nature which was beyond interrogation.

In support of the above argument, Gods authority is the supreme authority, one of Satans followers, Abdiel, disagreed to follow Satan. Responding to Abdiels enthusiasm and outrage at the rebellion, Satan, blindfolded with the pride, ignores the knowledge of his origin saying, who saw/When this creation was? Rememberst thou/Thy making, while the Maker gave thee being? (PL V: 856-58). However, Abdiel knew that Gods authority is unquestionable and, returned on the path of obedience even knowing that he will have to face the

contempt of the other devils. He knew that disobedience is going to lead him towards his doom. This is the innate knowledge of God and His authority available to him and all the other rebellious angels from the onset of their beings. The path of obedience is not easy but once one realizes that the authority is for his own welfare, the struggle becomes easier. As the creator, God has the power to understand everyones natural situation and is capable of gratefulness and the bond that gratefulness implies.

However, when the pride is burning like a wildfire inside, one goes to any extent in the path of disobedience even knowing the consequences. In addition to challenging Gods authority, Satan goes on to corrupt Gods most beautiful creation and makes them to follow the path of disobedience. Nonetheless, Satan contemplates repenting and asking for forgiveness from God just before accomplishing his evil plan of corrupting Adam and Eve, making them break the rule given to them. This suggests that even when Satan is entangled in the web of evil, the gratitude of God was pulling him towards obedience. Yet his intentions remain resolute and prove that he is the embodiment of Hell. On the contrary, Adam seems to believe that the idea of disobedience is impossible. He understands the kindness of God, his creator, from the bounty of creation which becomes clear when he says: need must the Power That made us, for us this ample world, Be infinitely good, and of his good As liberal and free as infinite; That raised us from the dust, and placed us here In all this happiness, who at his hand Have nothing merited, nor can perform Aught whereof he hath need. (PL IV: 412-19)

However, this bond of gratitude seems intolerable to Satan. He becomes deeply jealous of Adam and Evesopportunity to enjoy the Earth and maintain it as paradise. The embodiment of Hell again goes against the supreme authority and corrupts the soul of Eve. This event may seem contradictory to the idea of God being the supreme authority because how can God be the supreme authority and at the same time leave Man to follow the path of disobedience against his will? God had the authority to save Man from the path of disobedience. However, since one cannot have sincere love or constant faith until he is free from everything, God had to create Man just and right, sufficient to have stood for themselves, though free to fall. God testifies this when he says: Such I created all thEthereal Powers And Spirits, both them who stood, and them who failed; Freely they stood who stood, and fell who fell. Not free, what proof could they have givn sincere Of true allegiance, constant faith or love, Where only what they needs must do appeared Not what they would? What praise could they receive? What pleasure I from such obedience paid, When will and reason (reason also is choice) Useless and vain, of freedom both despoiled, Made passive both, had served necessity, Not me. (PL III: 100-11) This filial freedom was the essence of the relationship between God and Man. Both authority and liberty were the essential elements for Mans beatitude. God summarized Adams fall and eventual redemption saying, He with his whole posterity, must die,/Die he or justice must; unless for him/Some other able, and as willing, pay/The rigid satisfaction, death for death./Say,

heavnly Powers, where shall we find such love?(PL III: 209-13). The radiant image of Gods glory, his only son, responds to this by offering himself as sacrifice for the eventual redemption of Man. Adam and Eve may have failed the examination that God set for them as a requirement of their liberty but it made a way for the Man to receive Gods greater offering, his only son. Through the sons actions, filial freedom salvages man to thankfulness and to a novel liberty of conscience.

In comparison to the supreme authority of God in Miltons Paradise Lost lies Utopia, a place whose inhabitants have abolished money and greed itself. Utopia outlines an authority which if followed with sincere obedience, ensures the welfare of everyone. Among Utopians, virtue has its rewards, yet everything is shared equally, and everyone lives in plenty. Utopians are well governed with very few laws. Agriculture is the one occupation in which everyone works, men and women alike, with no exceptions. Of the days twenty-four hours, the Utopians devote only six to work. The remaining hours of the day are left to each persons individual discretion. This is provided that free time is not wasted in roistering or sloth, but used properly in some chosen occupation. The chief aim of their constitution is that whenever public needs permit, all citizens should be free so far as possible, to withdraw their time and energy from the services of the body and devote themselves to the freedom and culture of the mind. For in that, they hold, is the real happiness of life. This real happiness however, can only be achieved when everyone follows the constitution with diligence and sincerity. The authority is for the welfare of everyone. But who maintains this authority? The authority in Utopia is not a power to act on

behalf of somebody else. Since everything is shared equally, the authority is also shared equally among every individual. However, happiness is achieved only when every individual maintains this authority without guile.

The authority maintained in Utopia is of the people, for the people and, by the people. Everything belongs to everybody. As so long as the public warehouses are filled, no one will ever lack what he/she needs. What can be of greater riches than to live joyfully and peacefully, free from all anxieties, and without worries about making a living? Poverty, which seems to need money more than anything else for its relief, vanishes as greed is entirely abolished. This proves that the authority maintained is of the people and is for the people. However, since it is maintained by the people, there are more requirements than just beneficial consequences. The authority is maintained by humans instead by a supreme being. It can be so malevolent and evil that mere questioning is not enough. Therefore, Utopians establish laws to maintain their authority. In Utopia, women do not marry until they are eighteen. Men are permitted to marry at the age of twenty two. Premarital intercourse, if discovered and proved, is accompanied by severe punishment on both man and woman. They punish adulterers with the strictest form of slavery. Moreover, any individual caught attempting to leave his/her district without permission is treated with contempt, brought back as a runaway, and severely punished. The individual is relegated to a slave for second attempt. The gravest crimes are punished by slavery. They think this deters offenders just as much as instant capital punishment, and is more beneficial to the

commonwealth. Thus, Utopians know that they may tend to misuse the authority maintained by themselves.

The path of maintaining sincere authority for real happiness is not easy. When a normal human is required to maintain the authority, he needs to fight against his own evil temptations and pride which requires truthful devotion. Pride is too deeply fixed in human nature to be easily plucked out. There are cases in Utopia where one breaks the law and thus is relegated to a slave. Not every individual can fight against their pride and emerge as a person with genuine humanity. People tend to break the laws even being the guardians of the authority. It is when they realize that the power given to them is for their own benefit and they need to remain truthful to their duty that real happiness is achieved. Utopians are able to achieve a commonwealth the entire mankind should imitate. The institutions they adopt ensures the greatest happiness for their community and is capable of lasting forever. They have rooted up the seeds of ambition and faction at home, along with most other vices. Thus they are in no danger from internal strife, which alone has been the ruin of many civilizations. The realization that the authority they are maintaining is for their own welfare and obedience is the only path towards real happiness is the basis behind their success in erecting a harmonious and just society. Both Miltons Paradise Lost and Mores Utopia outline a form of authority which when followed with sincere obedience, makes a path towards happiness. Miltons Paradise Lost depicts the supreme authority of the God whereas Mores Utopia represents the authority maintained by humans. In spite of being two different forms of authority, they both have the

same goal which needs truthful to be achieved. In Paradise Lost, Satan challenges Gods authority numerous times due to his pride and lack of knowledge that Gods authority is for his own welfare. Satan is able to make Adam and Eve follow the path of disobedience not knowing the actual realm of Gods authority which ultimately lead to their downfall. And, hence Gods authority helps his begotten son salvage human mankind. However, individuals in Utopia challenge their pride to maintain their authority because they are aware that obedience towards their own authority is the obstacle that may prevent them from attaining real happiness.

Conclusively, one needs to realize that authority is not just a power to dominate others but it is the responsibility that is necessary for the welfare of others. Although, authority can be challenged, doing so while not knowing the realm of the authority will cause ones downfall. Gods supreme authority cannot be challenged and is beyond interrogation. Disobedience can lead to ones downfall but God has his own ways of treating disobedience and thus can salvage his beloved ones because he is the supreme authority. When the authority rests in the hands of human, the individual has to struggle to fulfill the responsibility that comes with authority. As long as he preserves harmony and keep his institutions healthy, he can never be moved. One needs to identify the sincere authority and follow it with truthful obedience to enjoy real happiness.