Season 4 Podcast 119 Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queen, Book I, Canto 4, Pt III Episode 11 “Sansjoy” 

Fidessa, of course, her name suggesting fidelity, is the former Duessa, her real name suggesting infidelity. Though she has fooled the silly Red Cross Knight, she has not fooled anyone in the underworld. After all she rode with Lucifera high on the coach leading the Seven Deadly Sins driven by Satan in the House of Pride. The three brothers, Sansfoy, which means without faith, Sansloy, which means without law, and Sansjoy, which means without joy are all in love with Duessa and she with them. The Redcross Knight killed Sansfoy in battle. The false Duessa who was in love with Sansfoy ran away. When the Redcross Knight caught up with her, she lied to him, saying she was the daughter of an Emperor kidnapped by Sansfoy. The Redcross Knight foolishly believed her though only moments before he saw Sansfoy and Duessa embracing in sensuous play. 

Duessa is evil and wants revenge on the Redcross Knight. Her ploy is to get him killed or to seduce him which will destroy him because the Redcross Knight above all else seeks holiness. However, when Sanjoy sees the Redcross Knight carrying his dead brother’s shield in the House of Pride. He immediately seeks revenge for the murder of his brother. He challenges the Redcross Knight to a duel. 

So having solaced themselves a space

With pleasaunce of the breathing fields yfed,

They back returned to the Princely Place;

Whereas an errant knight in armes ycled,

And heathenish shield, wherein with letters red

Was writ Sans joy, they new arrived find:

Enflamed with fury and fires hardy-head

He seemed in hart to harbor thoughts unkind,

And nourish bloody vengeance in his bitter mind.

Sansjoy snatches the shield, but the Redcross Knight, unwilling to give up the prize he won in a fair battle, takes it back.

Who when the shamed shield of slain Sansfoy

He spied with that same Faery champions page,

Bewraying him, that did of late destroy

His eldest brother, burning all with rage

He to him leapt, and that same envious gage

Of victor’s glory from him snatcht away:

But th' Elfin knight, which ought that warlike wage

Disdained to lose the meed he won in fray,

And him reencountering fierce, rescued the noble pray.

The two knights immediately begin a violent quarrel and prepared for battle. However, Lucifera, queen of the House of Pride, stops the quarrel and commands them to refrain. She orders them to meet the next day in duel to determine who owns Sansfoy’s shield. Ironically in knight errantry it was thought that God would support the just and condemn the wicked. Duels to the death were how such conflicts were settled. It was somewhat like how they discerned witches. They threw the accused witch into the pond. If she drowned, she was innocent because it was believed that a witch could not drown. If she floated to the surface, she was burned at the stake. That was frontier justice. 

 Therewith they gan to hurtlen greedily,

Redoubted battle ready to darrayne,

And clash their shields, and shake their swords on high,

That with their sturre they troubled all the train;

Till that great Queene upon eternal pain

Of high displeasure that ensewen might,

Commanded them their fury to refrain,

And if that either to that shield had right,

In equal lists they should the morrow next it fight.

Sansjoy apologizes to the queen and explains that he only attacked the Redcross Knight through grief of his brother’s death. He tells her that only false treachery and shameful treason could have killed his valiant brother. 

Season 4 Podcast 118 The Stories of the New Testament, Matthew Ch 13: 2:24-58, “The Kingdom of Heaven”

Christians are associated with the terms God and Satan, good and evil, heaven and hell. It is a battle ground. Peter tells us,

1 Peter 5:8

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”  

Paul warns us to put on the whole armor of God.

Ephesians 6:10-18

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”

Before coming to earth to gain a physical body, we lived with God in heaven as spirits. When the     Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, he breathed into his nostril the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” That breath of life was our premortal spirit. Only the spirit has life in itself. The body did not become a living soul until after the spirit was placed in it. The spirit can never die. Death is the separation of the body from the spirit. Only the physical body dies. The resurrection, of course, is the reuniting of the body and the spirit never to be separated again. Where then do we go when we die? Many wish to oversimplify the answer and say we either go to heaven or hell. The Holy Bible does not support that thesis. The Savior said.

Matthew 25:31-34

“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:”

“Inherit the kingdom prepared for you” suggests different kingdoms. In another place Christ clarifies the statement. 

John 14:2

“In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”

Paul teaches that there are three major divisions of heaven. Paul was caught up in the third or highest heaven.

2 Corinthians 12:2

“I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.”

Season 4 Podcast 117, In Defense of Christianity, “The Sabbath Day, Part II, The Ten Commandments, A.” 

In the creation story it is important to understand the sequence of events for they all center around the Sabbath Day.  In the first, or spiritual creation, everything is completed on the Sixth Day of creation as is made plain in Genesis Chapter I. For economy’s sake, I shall only deal with the creation of man.

Genesis 1:26-27, & 31

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them…. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

Following the Sixth Day of the Spiritual Creation, we are introduced to the Seventh, or Sabbath, Day.

Genesis 2: 1-3

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

What was that work? It was the spiritual creation of heaven, earth, and man. Everything is now prepared for the physical creation of man. The Seventh or Sabbath Day is the hinge of creation. It represents the last day of the spiritual creation or preparation or organization. It is concluded with the words in Genesis 1:1:

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

How is it possible that “all the host of them,” meaning men and women, were finished? Adam and Eve hadn’t been created. For that matter none of us had been created in the flesh. It means that all the spirit children of God were created, and those spirit children would come to earth to gain a body. In other words, it refers to the spiritual creation of mankind. So what does God do on the Sabbath Day, take a long nap? No! Not Likely. The first thing he does is to bless and sanctify the earth.

And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Adam and Eve have not been created yet, that is to say their physical bodies had not been created yet. Moses records.

Genesis 2:5

“And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.”

Only someone in the flesh could till the ground; however, remember this is the Seventh or Sabbath Day. The next thing God does on the Sabbath is to water the earth. 

But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the Ground.

Before you accuse God of going out like a farmer and watering his garden, remember that during the first day of creation all the laws are in place. God simply sets in motion those laws which work independently. God does not continue to create laws.  All laws were created during the first six days, both spiritual laws and temporal laws. All laws are organized in complete sets to act independently once set in motion. 

Season 4 Podcast 116 Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queen, Book I, Canto 4, Episode 10 “The Seven Deadly Sins.” 

Duessa is at home in the house of pride; however, the goodly Red Cross Knight sees only vanity.

Goodly they all that knight do entertain,

Right glad with him to have increased their crew:

But to Duess' each one himself did pay

All kindness and faire courtesy to shew;

For in that court while her well they knew:

Yet the stout Faerie amongst the middest crowd

Thought all their glory vain in knightly view,

And that great Princess too exceeding proud,

That to strange knight no better countenance allowed.

Lucifera who overlooks the crowd suddenly rises up and calls for her coach. Everyone stops and looks with admiration at Lucifera for they see the imposter as a great queen. 

The Seven Deadly Sins—sloth, gluttony, lust, greed, envy, and wrath—are often pitted against the Seven Cardinal Virtues—chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility. What artists have done in painting the Seven Deadly Sins, Spenser has done in vivid poetic imagery: Lucifera, wife of Lucifer, symbolizing pride accompanied by Duessa, duplicity, leads the parade, her carriage pulled by peacocks. She is followed by Sloth riding on a mule; Gluttony riding on a swine; Lust riding on a goat; Greed riding on a camel; Envy riding on a wolf; And Wrath riding on a lion. The animals fit the sin. Driving the parade is Satan with a long whip in his hand. They parade through the streets of the House of Pride cheered on by thousands of admirers. The entire scene represents the world and the natural man.   

Sudden uprises from her stately place

The royal Dame, and for her coach did call:

All hurtled forth, and she with Princely pace,

As faire Aurora in her purple pall,

Out of the east the dawning day doth call:

So forth she comes: her brightness broad doth blaze;

The heaps of people thronging in the hall,

Do ride each other, upon her to gaze:

Her glorious glittering light doth all men’s eyes amaze.

Lucifera climbs upon her coach adorned with flowers. Her coach is drawn by peacocks symbolizing her glorious vanity. 

So forth she comes, and to her coach does clyme,

Adorned all with gold, and garlands gay,

That seemed as fresh as Flora in her prime,

And strove to match, in royal rich array,

Great Junos golden chair, the which they say

The Gods stand gazing on, when she does ride

To Jove’s high house through heavens brass-paved way

Drawn of faire Peacocks, that excel in pride,

And full of Argus eyes their tails dispreading wide.

The Six other deadly sins are her counselors. They ride on unequal beasts that symbolize their sins. Immediately behind PRIDE is IDLENESS who rides on a slothful mule. Spenser calls IDLENESS the “nurse of sin.” It is the synonym for SLOTH. 

But this was drawn of six unequal beasts,

On which her six sage Counselors did ride,

Taught to obey their bestial behest’s,

With like conditions to their kinds applied:

Of which the first, that all the rest did guide,

Was sluggish Idleness the nurse of sin;

Upon a slothful Asse he chose to ride,

Arrayed in habit black, and amis thin,

Like to an holy Monk, the service to begin.

Idleness dressed like a monk carries the holy scriptures with him but doesn’t read them. Idleness though he appears sanctimonious is a hypocrite and does not care for religion. He sleeps most of the time.

And in his hand his Portesse still he bare,

That much was worn, but therein little read,

Season 4 Podcast 115 The Stories of the New Testament, Matthew Ch 13:1-23, “The Parable of the Sower”

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a parable is an allegorical or metaphorical saying or narrative; an allegory, a fable, an apologue; a comparison, a similitude.” The Dictionary adds, “A usually realistic story or narrative told to convey a moral or spiritual lesson or insight; esp. one told by Jesus in the Gospels.” Christ, of course, is famous for teaching in parables.  We are introduced to the parables in a wonderful setting:

Matthew 13:2-3 

“The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, “

The first parable listed in Matthew 13 is the parable of the sower.

“Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

There are three elements at play in the parable: the seed, the sower, and the scattering of the seed. 

Where would the world be without seeds? In the creation story, seeds were organized on the third day.

Genesis 1:11-13

“And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day.”

One key phrase is “whose seed was in itself.” That which does not have seed in itself cannot reproduce. A seed is the embryo of the adult.  It contains all the information necessary to become an adult which produces more seeds. The seed itself is generally very small consisting of the embryo and nutritive tissues protected by a hard shell. A seed will remain in that state forever unless acted upon by its environment. If the environment is not good the seed will not be good.

In this context, the seed is the gospel, the word of God, or the teachings of Christ. One of the most important seeds would be the Sermon on the Mount which contains the core of Christian doctrine. A seed, of course, remains a seed if not planted. The protective shell must be broken. The fate of the seed depends upon the soil and other conditions such as sun and rain.

Secondly, a seed must have a sower. The sower in the above parable would be the disciples of Christ. The resurrected Christ said to his apostles. 

Mark 16:15-16

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

Season 4 Podcast 114, In Defense of Christianity, “The Sabbath Day, Part I, The Law of the Sabbath.” 

It is very possible that the least regarded and least understood law is The Law of the Sabbath. Today we see an alarming rise of atheism, a decline in church attendance, and an increasing disregard for the Sabbath day even among professed Christians. 

The term bellwether originated from a sheep (wether) that led the flock by having a bell around its neck. Many of our words have an analogical or metaphorical background. Today we use bellwether to refer to an indicator or predictor of a trend. The decline of Sabbath Day observance is the best bellwether of the increase or decrease of our commitment to Christ. To use a term from Mills Methods, it is in concomitant variation. As Sabbath Day observance increases, dedication to Christ increases. As Sabbath Day observance decreases, dedication to Christ decreases. Claiming to be a Christian is perhaps one of the weakest bellwethers of our commitment to Christ.  Sabbath Day observance one of the strongest. 

To understand the Law of the Sabbath we must go back to the creation story for that is where it originates.  

Here we shall review the creation story, but first let me refer you to Season 4, Podcasts 105, 108, and 111 in which I analyze Genesis Chapter’s 1-3.

Here I should like to make a small correction as well as add an addendum. In the podcasts referred to I said that Chapter one ended with verse 1 of Chapter two as indicated by the parallelism. Upon closer analysis I see I was mistaken. Chapter 1 ends with verse 3 of Chapter 2. Let me explain why for it relates to the Law of the Sabbath.

As explained in the podcasts on creation, though there are seven days of creation, there are two distinct periods of creation, running parallel. One is spiritual, the other is temporal.  Here I want to show the unique qualities of each period of creation and how they relate to the Sabbath Day.

Chapter 1 of Genesis and Chapter 2 of Genesis verses 1-3 refer to Elohim or God, the Father.  Chapter 2 verses 4 – 25 refer to Jehovah, the son of God who is the God of the Old Testament and of course the New Testament and creator of the world and all things in it, including man. Let me illustrate. Chapter 1 and the first three verses of Chapter 3 use the following clauses. I have listed both the clause and the number of times it appears. For example, Chapter 1 uses the term “God” which refers to Elohim.

1.     God blessed (2)

2.     God called (3)

3.     God created (1)

4.     God divided (1)

5.     God made (3)

6.     God said (10)

7.     God saw (6)

8.     God set (1)

9.     God ended (1)

10.  God blessed (1)

11.  God created. (1)

 Chapter 2, verses 4-25 uses the term “The Lord God” which refers to Jehovah. 

1.     The Lord God made the earth and the heavens,

2.     The Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, 

3.     The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

4.     The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

5.     And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, 

Season 4 Podcast 113 Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queen, Book I, Pt I Canto 4, Episode 9 “The House of Pride.” 

Last week we followed the adventures of Una as she was threatened by a lion, a robber, a magician, and then by Sansloy, a lawless Knight. She conquered the lion, the robber, the magician, but we left her under the terrible power of Sansloy. We will return to Una in the future. Today we follow the Redcross Knight who, under the spell of the evil witch Duessa, is led into the House of Pride. 

CANTO IV

To sinful house of Pride, Duessa

guides the faithful knight,

Where brother's death to wreak Sansjoy

doth challenge him to fight.

Enamored by the beauty of the false Duessa, the Redcross Knight willingly follows her into the House of Pride, which, of course, is destructive to one who is supposedly on the path to holiness. 

YOUNG knight whatever that dost arms profess,

And through long labors huntest after fame,

Beware of fraud, beware of fickleness,

In choice, and change of thy dear loved Dame,

Least thou of her believe too lightly blame,

And rash misweening do thy heart remove:

For unto knight there is no greater shame,

Than lightness and inconstancy in love;

That doth this Redcrosse knight’s ensample plainly prove.

The Redcross Knight has foolishly abandoned Una, falsely thinking she was evil and followed Duessa who is the Whore of Babylon.

Who after that he had faire Una lorne,

Through light misdeeming of her loyalty,

And false Duessa in her sted had borne,

Called Fidess', and so supposed to be;

Long with her traveled, till at last they see

4 RON

Spenser describes the House of Pride.

A goodly building, bravely garnished,

The house of mighty Prince it seemed to be:

And towards it a broad high way that led,

All bare through people’s feet, which thither traveled.

Great troupes of people traveled thitherward

Both day and night, of each degree and place, 

But few returned, having scaped hard, 

With baleful beggary, or foul disgrace;

Which ever after in most wretched case,

Like loathsome lazars, by the hedges lay.

Thither Duessa bad him bend his pace:

For she is weary of the toilsome way,

And also nigh consumed is the lingering day.

The House of Pride, of course, is just the opposite of the New Jerusalem as described by John in the Book of Revelation.

10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve agates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

Season 4 Podcast 112 The Stories of the New Testament, Matthew Ch 12:22-50, “The Temple of the Holy Ghost”

Christ performed a variety of miracles, particularly healing. We seem to learn something new from each miracle. The following is the story of one possessed of a devil.

22 ¶ Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.

23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?

Devil possession perhaps has always been controversial. I think that silly Hollywood horror movies have so distorted the meaning of devil possession that some dismiss the concept altogether. However, Satan and his angels are real. They are spirits. All spirits, even our own, are made of matter too refined to see. The only difference between our spirits and the spirits of devils is that we have a physical body in the form and shape of our spirit. The only way evil spirits can have a body is to enter the bodies of those who have a physical body. The Bible says a third part of the host of heaven followed Lucifer. Christ said.

LUKE 12:17-18

“And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”

One of the curses of Satan and his angels is that they were denied a physical body.  We know that Satan and his angels fell to earth. What then do they do with their time? John the Revelator answers that question.

Revelation 12:7-13

7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

It is clear from the writings of John that the devil is persecuting the Christians. It takes many forms. The weapons used to combat Satan are unconventional. John records, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony.”  That is also how the war in heaven was fought. It was not through contention. It was through testimony. The spirits in heaven who rejected the testimony of Christ followed Lucifer and were cast out of heaven with Satan. We know from the scene in the country of the Gergesenes that evil spirits were able to enter into the bodies of swine.

Season 4 Podcast 111 “The Story of Creation, Genesis 1-3 Pt III”

Now we move to Genesis Chapter Three.  We have already learned that the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil were planted in the garden, thus giving Adam and Eve a choice. Two things give mankind agency. One is choice, the other is enticement.  The choice is between good and evil; the enticement is between Christ and Satan. 

We learn from John the Revelator in the Book of Revelation that Lucifer was cast out of heaven.

Revelation 12

“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

This was during the Sixth Day of Creation, before Adam and Eve were formed in the flesh and the Garden of Eden became their home. Satan decided to continue his war against God on earth.  John records.

Revelation 12

“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

Having lost the war in heaven, Satan’s first target on earth, of course, is Adam and Eve. The following is his account from Genesis 3 of his conversation with Eve. Eve is naive and does not recognize Satan for he appears to her as a serpent.

“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

We learn an extremely important lesson from this. On the one hand, I take literally the idea that Satan used the serpent and that it was no strange thing that the serpent could talk. We only understand the animals of our narrow world.  We have no clue of the extraordinary possibilities of all of God’s creations. On the other hand, some things have never changed. Satan uses man to be his voice which is very deceptive. It is only natural that he would use those who only pretend to be religious.

It is also true that God uses man frequently to be his voice. From that we may conclude that man has the ability to speak his own mind, to listen to the promptings of God, or to follow the promptings of Satan. It is up to us to discern which spirit is at play, even in our own conversations. To do that we must be able to discern good from evil, God from Satan, as well as the philosophies of man which may pretend to be of God. The serpent is speaking the words of Lucifer.

“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”

Satan, of course, speaks only half truths. He lies to Eve about not dying but tells the truth that she will be as the Gods knowing good and evil. Eve having lived in the Garden of Eden for who knows how long, would have understood little about death for she had no comparison. There was no death in the Garden of Eden. Death was certainly not something she would be terribly afraid of. Obviously she studies the fruit for a very long time, and this is probably not her first time contemplating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Notice her own reasoning.

Season 4 Podcast 110 Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queen, Canto 3 Episode 8 “The Adventures of Una.” Pt II

In the previous Podcast, # 107, The Redcross Knight listens to the tale of The Weeping Tree. It is a warning to the Redcross Knight to flee from Duessa; however, the Knight does not heed the warning because Duessa presented herself as Fidessa, the daughter of an Emperor who had been kidnapped by Sansfoy.

Having lost Sansfoy, Duessa seeks to destroy the Redcross Knight by causing him to lose his virtue, the source of his strength. 

In Canto 3 Una sets out on a journey to find the Redcross Knight who has abandoned her because of the false dream caused by the magician Archimago. 

Una and the lion leave at daybreak. Una continues her quest to find the Redcross Knight.  Meanhile, Archimago who has been following Una’s trail happens upon the blind woman and her daughter. Filled with hate for killing the robber who supported them, they tell Archimago how to find Una. The wicked Archimago has the power to take on any shape he desires; therefore, cunningly he takes upon him the shape of the Redcross Knight, and in that disguse he meets Una and the lion.

Ere long he came where Una traveled slow,

And that wilde Champion waiting her beside:

Whom seeing such, for dread he durst not show

Himself too nigh at hand, but turned wide

 Unto an hill; from whence when she him spied,

By his like seeming shield, her knight by name

She weend it was, and towards him gan ride:

Approaching nigh, she wist it was the same,

And with faire fearful humblesse towards him she came:

Thinking the vile magician is really the Redcross Knight, she asks him where he had been and why he left her. 

And weeping said, Ah my long lacked Lord,

Where have ye bene thus long out of my sight?

Much feared I to have bene quite abhorred,

Or ought have done, that ye displeasen might,

That should as death unto my deare heart light:

 For since mine eye your joyous sight did mis,

My cheerful day is turned to cheerless night,

And eke my night of death the shadow is;

But welcome now my light, and shining lampe of blis.

The crafty magician answers.

He thereto meeting said, My dearest Dame,

Farre be it from your thought, and fro my will,

To thinke that knighthood I so much should shame,

As you to leave, that have me loved still,

And chose in Faery court of meere goodwill,

Where noblest knights were to be found on earth:

 The earth shall sooner leave her kindly skill, 

To bring forth fruit, and make eternall derth,

Then I leave you, my liefe, yborne of heavenly berth.

 And sooth to say, why I left you so long,

Was for to seeke adventure in strange place,

 Where Archimago said a felon strong

To many knights did daily worke disgrace;

But knight he now shall never more deface:

Good cause of mine excuse; that mote ye please

Well to accept, and evermore embrace

 My faithfull service, that by land and seas

Have vowd you to defend: now then your plaint appease.

The guileless Una is entirely unaware that she is really speaking to the deceitful Archimago. The guileless often project their virtues onto others, thinking they are better than they are. The wicked magician has taken upon himself the very form and shape of the Redcross knight.