Justify vs. Vindicate
Justify vs. Vindicate
The quotes “And justify the ways of God to man” and “But vindicate the ways of God to man” by John Milton and Alexander Pope respectively are at first glance interchangeable. Pope was influenced by Milton to some degree, both men were poets, both men were prone to satire and both were interested in the relationship between man, God and the universe. Both sought to explore the latter within the framework of their own ethical beliefs. The similarity in both person and intent ends there, however.
By happy coincidence, I have read both Paradise Lost and An Essay on Man more than once. Thus I have some basis/context for comparison of the two quotes in question. Lest anyone thinks this is a gasconade, I have also been known to read the backs of cereal boxes – including nutritional charts – because nothing else is handy and supernatural romance novels because they stroke the limbics. I recommend neither those, nor Paradise Lost for that matter, as before bedtime fare. Any of them might make the dreams passing strange. In short, I will read anything and usually have.
Milton was plagued by the “Life is not fair!” problem of God. How can God exist as a benevolent force if these terrible things happen in the world? Therefore, he set out to explain why the two things were not mutually exclusive. His use of the word justify is not incidental; he wanted to give us the reason things happen as they do. Which is one of the definitions of the word justify. This is exactly what he did. He argued in the poem that man essentially paddles his own canoe. God’s punishments are not arbitrary; they are a reaction to man’s choices. He explained that the things that happen to man are ultimately the result of the actions of man.
Pope, on the other side, was not concerned with explaining why God acted in any particular way. His choice of the word vindicate was also likely deliberate. His ultimate goal was to give God a free pass. To clear him of suspicion,
The quotes “And justify the ways of God to man” and “But vindicate the ways of God to man” by John Milton and Alexander Pope respectively are at first glance interchangeable. Pope was influenced by Milton to some degree, both men were poets, both men were prone to satire and both were interested in the relationship between man, God and the universe. Both sought to explore the latter within the framework of their own ethical beliefs. The similarity in both person and intent ends there, however.
By happy coincidence, I have read both Paradise Lost and An Essay on Man more than once. Thus I have some basis/context for comparison of the two quotes in question. Lest anyone thinks this is a gasconade, I have also been known to read the backs of cereal boxes – including nutritional charts – because nothing else is handy and supernatural romance novels because they stroke the limbics. I recommend neither those, nor Paradise Lost for that matter, as before bedtime fare. Any of them might make the dreams passing strange. In short, I will read anything and usually have.
Milton was plagued by the “Life is not fair!” problem of God. How can God exist as a benevolent force if these terrible things happen in the world? Therefore, he set out to explain why the two things were not mutually exclusive. His use of the word justify is not incidental; he wanted to give us the reason things happen as they do. Which is one of the definitions of the word justify. This is exactly what he did. He argued in the poem that man essentially paddles his own canoe. God’s punishments are not arbitrary; they are a reaction to man’s choices. He explained that the things that happen to man are ultimately the result of the actions of man.
Pope, on the other side, was not concerned with explaining why God acted in any particular way. His choice of the word vindicate was also likely deliberate. His ultimate goal was to give God a free pass. To clear him of suspicion,