Some Background Knowledge for Paradise Lost

I’ve read a few of the posts from other students and I’ve found that several of my fellow students don’t have the background knowledge needed to really understand what’s going on in the book. And this is certainly a hard read if you don’t have the religious background knowledge. So while I’ve already posted this story as a comment, I think it may also be of some value as a post for anyone that needs it. So essentially this book is in reference to the story of genesis which is the first book in the bible. In Genesis Adam and Eve are the only human beings and they rule over a perfect land without any problems with God who can see and talk with them. God walks on the earth with the humans and they are able to interact as regular people do. He gives Adam all the power as he was made first and God is a little sexist. Adam is tasked with naming all of the animals that God makes. He enjoys his work at first but gets bored so God uses one of his ribs to make him a woman to keep him entertained. Adam and Eve spend all their time roaming the garden of Eden and fucking. Which is done without protection and giving birth feels orgasmic to Eve so it’s fine. God is happy with the way they are spending their eternal lives because humans don’t die at this point in time but he still makes one rule for them which is that they cannot eat the fruit of a specific tree. When they ask why, he refuses to answer. Satan may or may not have still been an angel at the time (it’s not entirely clear) and he takes the form of a snake who lives in that tree. One day he offers the fruit to Eve who refuses it at first because she trusts God but is convinced to take it in the end because the devil tells her to think for herself and that God was lying to them by withholding the truth from them, God had refused to say what would happen if they did eat the fruit and the devil gave them the true answer. Naturally she trusts the person who actually gives her an answer. When she eats the apple, she gains knowledge and the abilities of free thought. She then convinces Adam to eat the fruit too so that he can see what she sees. God finds out that they betrayed his rule because he finds them clothed while they did not previously have the knowledge to know that they were naked. In anger, he damns the entire world and human race forever. Deciding that all people are born out of this original sin and that they all deserve to go to hell because of it. Humans are no longer immortal and they must all suffer. As additional punishment for Eve, giving birth is now incredibly painful and it’s all that women are good for. Reason being that Adam wouldn’t have eaten the apple unless Eve tricked him into doing it. So now women must always listen to men and be subservient. And that’s how the bible starts, creates a strong basis for sexism, and how we lost paradise supposedly. It’s also the most well known part of the bible as it’s the first story and most religious people don’t read the bible all the way through. It’s also impossible for this to have been documented as a real event but Christianity still sticks to this being the entirely true origin of the human race. Pretty problematic.