Editing William Blake (section)

=== Religious views ===

[[File:Europe a Prophecy, copy D, object 1 (Bentley 1, Erdman i, Keynes i) British Museum.jpg|thumb|right|[[Urizen]] − from Blake's ''[[The Ancient of Days|Ancient of Days]]'', 1794. The "[[Ancient of Days]]" is described in Chapter 7 of the [[Book of Daniel]]. This image depicts Copy D of the illustration currently held at the British Museum.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.blakearchive.org/exist/blake/archive/object.xq?objectid=europe.d.illbk.01&java=no| title = Europe a Prophecy, copy D, object 1 (Bentley 1, Erdman i, Keynes i) "Europe a Prophecy"|editor1= Morris Eaves |editor2=Robert N. Essick |editor3=Joseph Viscomi| publisher = [[William Blake Archive]]| access-date = 25 September 2013}}</ref> ]]

Regarding conventional religion, Blake was a satirist and ironist in his viewpoints which are illustrated and summarised in his poem ''[[Vala, or The Four Zoas]]'', one of his uncompleted [[William Blake's prophetic books|prophetic books]] begun in 1797. The demi-mythological and demi-religious main characters of the book are the Four Zoas ([[Urthona]], [[Urizen]], [[Luvah]] and [[Tharmas]]), who were created by the fall of [[Albion (Blake)|Albion]] in [[William Blake's mythology|Blake's mythology]]. It consists of nine books, referred to as "nights". These outline the interactions of the Zoas, their fallen forms and their [[Emanationism|Emanations]]. Blake intended the book to be a summation of his [[William Blake's mythology|mythic universe]]. Blake's Four Zoas, which represent four aspects of the [[God in Christianity|Almighty God]] and ''Vala'' is the first work to mention them.<ref>Bentley 2003 pp. 198–199, 247, 310</ref> In particular, Blake's God/Man union is broken down into the bodily components of Urizen (head), Urthona (loins), Luvah (heart), and Tharmas (unity of the body) with paired [[Emanationism|Emanations]] being [[Ahania]] (wisdom, from the head), [[Enitharmon]] (what can't be attained in nature, from the loins), [[Vala (Blake)|Vala]] (nature, from the heart), and [[Enion]] (earth mother, from the separation of unity).<ref>Bloom 1993 p. 32</ref> As connected to Blake's understanding of the divine, the Zoas are the [[God the Father]] (Tharmas, sense), the [[Son of God]] (Luvah, love), the [[Holy Spirit|Holy Ghost]] (Urthona, imagination), and [[Christian teaching about the Devil|Satan]] who was originally of the divine substance (Urizen, reason) and their Emanations represent Sexual Urges (Enion), Nature (Vala), Inspiration (Enitharmon), and Pleasure (Ahania).<ref>Damon pp. 124, 255, 399, 419, 428</ref>

Blake believed that each person had a twofold identity with one half being good and the other evil. In ''Vala'', both the character [[Orc (Blake)|Orc]] and [[Albion (Blake)|The Eternal Man]] discuss their selves as divided. By the time he was working on his later works, including ''Vala'', Blake felt that he was able to overcome his inner battle but he was concerned about losing his artistic abilities. These thoughts carried over into ''Vala'' as the character Los (imagination) is connected to the image of Christ, and he added a Christian element to his mythic world. In the revised version of ''Vala'', Blake added Christian and Hebrew images and describes how Los experiences a vision of the Lamb of God that regenerates Los's spirit. In opposition to Christ is Urizen and the [[Synagogue of Satan]], who later crucifies Christ. It is from them that Deism is born.<ref>Bentley 2003 pp. 271–272, 301</ref>

[[File:Blake-Abel.jpg|thumb|right|''The Body of [[Cain and Abel|Abel]] Found by Adam and Eve'', c. 1825. Watercolour on wood.]]
Blake did not subscribe to the notion of a body distinct from the soul that must submit to the rule of the soul, but sees the body as an extension of the soul, derived from the "discernment" of the senses. Thus, the emphasis orthodoxy places upon the denial of bodily urges is a dualistic error born of misapprehension of the relationship between body and soul. Elsewhere, he describes Satan as the "state of error", and as beyond salvation.<ref>{{cite book |last=Damon |first=Samuel Foster |title=A Blake Dictionary |year=1988 |publisher=Brown University Press |page=358 |isbn=0-87451-436-3 |edition=Revised }}</ref>

Blake opposed the [[Sophism|sophistry]] of [[theology|theological]] thought that excuses pain, admits evil and apologises for injustice. He abhorred self-denial,<ref>[[Saree Makdisi|Makdisi, Saree]]. ''William Blake and the Impossible History of the 1790s''. 2003, pp. 226–7.</ref> which he associated with religious repression and particularly [[sexual repression]]:<ref>Altizer, Thomas J. J. ''The New Apocalypse: The Radical Christian Vision of William Blake''. 2000, p. 18.</ref>
<blockquote><poem>
[[Prudence]] is a rich ugly old maid courted by Incapacity.
He who desires but acts not breeds [[wikt:pestilence|pestilence]]. (7.4–5, E35)</poem></blockquote>
He saw the concept of "sin" as a trap to bind men's desires (the briars of ''Garden of Love''), and believed that restraint in obedience to a moral code imposed from the outside was against the spirit of life:
<blockquote><poem>
Abstinence sows sand all over
The ruddy limbs & flaming hair
But Desire Gratified
Plants fruits & beauty there. (E474)
</poem></blockquote>

He did not hold with the [[God the Father#Christianity|doctrine]] of God as Lord, an entity separate from and superior to mankind;<ref>{{cite book |last=Blake |first=Gerald Eades Bentley |title=William Blake: The Critical Heritage |year=1975 |publisher=Routledge & K. Paul |location=London |page=[https://archive.org/details/williamblakecrit0000unse/page/30 30] |isbn=0-7100-8234-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/williamblakecrit0000unse/page/30 }}</ref> this is shown clearly in his words about Jesus Christ: "He is the only God ... and so am I, and so are you." A telling phrase in ''The Marriage of Heaven and Hell'' is "men forgot that All deities reside in the human breast".