The Role Of Free Will In John Milton's Paradise Lost

In order for John Milton’s epic Paradise Lost to fulfill its promise to “justify the ways of God to man,” Milton must prove that man is responsible for his fall from Eden. Throughout the epic, God argues against his culpability in the fall of humanity and insists that Adam and Eve both possess absolute free will. Essentially, the evidence for this idea that his creations held free will concentrates on a connection between reason and the freedom to make informed, correct decisions. This Arminian notion that Man must be responsible for his decision to either accept or refuse to follow God’s instruction because Adam possesses reason and, by extension from this, free will, fails to recognize other factors at play which detract from his ability to exercise his supposedly free will. As an omnipotent being, God would be fully aware of the limitations, desires, and flaws of humanity. Therefore, God’s structuring his creations with potent failings such as

In Book 3 of the epic, God exclaims that “[Adam] had of Me / All he could have” (2.97-98) and that Adam was “Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall” (3.99). In these lines, God argues that Adam bears sole responsibility for his fall and that God can in no way be blamed for the events to unfold. Shortly following this declaration, God emphasizes that no one “can justly accuse / Their Maker or their making” (3.112-113). These two lines reiterate that God as the creator bears no responsibility for the fall of mankind and introduce the idea that the making of both Adam and Eve also failed to influence their decision. Although God vehemently defends his position against his culpability, and even sends Raphael to Adam and Eve to emphasize this, this argument blatantly ignores factors that directly resulted in the fall of