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Milton’s Successful Theodicy
Emma Hughes
T
he epic poem Paradise Lost, in its exposition of man’s original sin and fall from
grace, declares itself to be a theodicy, or an attempt to “justify the ways of God
to man” (I.26). In writing his epic, Milton assumes that God is omniscient, omnipotent, and good; he thus faces the difficulty of reconciling this assumption with the
existence of evil in a universe created by a benevolent God. Paradise Lost demonstrates
that God’s endowment of humans with free will is consistent with His infinite power
and wisdom, despite the fact that man’s poor choices are responsible for evil in the world.
Although God foresaw the emergence of evil and permitted it to exist, He ultimately
turns evil into greater glory for Himself and mankind through the crucifixion and resurrection of His son, Jesus. Milton’s theodicy is successful because it accounts for evil in
the world, while maintaining the verity of God’s omnipotence.
Paradise Lost illustrates God’s creation of man and free will as evidence of His perfect
nature, not as a contradiction of His benevolence. That God, in His formation of independent beings, understood man’s free will to be the cause of evil may seem incongruous
given His righteousness. Dennis Danielson responds to this misconception in his essay
“The Fall and Milton’s Theodicy,” which delineates a Free Will Defense that argues,
“God, for reasons consistent with his wisdom and goodness, created angels and human
beings with freedom either to obey or disobey his commands” (148). The Free Will Defense is fundamental to Milton’s theodicy; it claims that God had a plan for humans
even before He brought them into existence. The eventual fulfillment of God’s plan in
correlation with man’s free will demonstrate His infinite knowledge and power.
To explain God’s endowment of man with the capacity to think independently, Milton emphasizes that God created man in His own image. In Paradise Lost, Satan admires
the beauty of human beings when he first espies Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden,
“whom [his] thoughts pursue/ With wonder, and could love, so lively shines/ In them
Divine resemblance” (IV.362-364). Seeing human beings for the first time forcibly reminds Satan of His archrival in Heaven; God, after all, did conceive man after His own
figure. Man, like his Creator, possesses strong intellect; he is the only living creature on
earth with the ability to reason.
erect, and whole—to act against that will would be to err: therefore I crown and miter you over yourself.”
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EMMA HUGHES
Milton furthers his explanation of man’s free will by asserting that without freedom
to reason, man cannot truly love God. Worship is meaningless if not performed with intention and contemplation.The reality of man’s independence strengthens his goodness:
as Danielson points out, “without freedom, what value would things such as honesty, loyalty, and love possess?” (148). Freedom allows man to choose to be loyal to and to love
God; it makes his devotion more substantial and meaningful than the mindless worship
of a dependent and submissive being. Man’s free will ultimately aspires to glorify God;
a rational person’s choice to accept and love God proves that He deserves their worship
and praise.
While intellectual freedom is a prerequisite to sincere devotion, God’s creation of
man’s free will seems to contradict Milton’s postulation that God is good—after all, God
can foresee man’s surrender to temptation. Though God presents man with the opportunity to fall, the Fall creates the opportunity for man to be saved. God’s foresight allows
Him to account for and prepare for the evil that will emerge in mankind. His speech in
Book III delineates His definitive plan for man, outlining man’s Fall and eventual Redemption through the mortal death and resurrection of Jesus. Though both Adam and
Eve understand God’s command not to eat the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, they do so anyway, consciously choosing death and damnation. As a result of their
sin, God states that man “with his whole posterity must die, / Die he or Justice must; unless for him / Some other able, and as willing, pay” (III.209-211). Although God ambiguously poses this concept, He knows that His son will be the individual willing to
fulfill the demands of justice and save men by dying for their sins.
God’s foreknowledge of man’s sin gives mankind hope that they will be saved from
damnation, unlike the fallen angels. God can forgive humans because they are not the
creators of their own depravity; Satan and the fallen angels are authors of their own
downfall and accordingly will never be redeemed. Man is weaker than the angels in Hell,
and he falls from grace because he succumbs to temptation. In the event of the resurrection, people become free of sin; those who choose to accept God’s mercy can be saved
and ascend to Heaven. In his book The Logical Epic, Dennis Burden astutely observes,
“God’s foreknowledge thus has for the faithful a welcome providential role” (28). God’s
omniscience signifies hope for those who believe in Him. Evil originates from the people
who choose to ignore God, not from God himself. This concept is vital to Milton’s
theodicy because it explains the continued existence of evil in the world.
In Paradise Lost, as in the Christian religion, the evil that Satan inspires in man subsequently works toward the greater glorification of God. This fact cements the reality of
God’s omnipotence, omniscience, and benevolence while accounting for sin. God recognizes evil, but is not responsible for it; His ultimate plan for man is to “permit evil and
eventually turns it to His own purpose,” through the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection (Burden, 24). When the Archangel Michael reveals God’s design to Adam at the end of the
– Virgil, Dante’s Purgatorio | “Our mind moves only on faith, being bound and constrained to the whim of
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poem, he responds with rapturous awe, proclaiming, “O goodness infinite, goodness immense! / That all this good of evil shall produce, / And evil turn to good!” (XII.469471). Adam is overcome with joy when he learns that there will be redemption for
mankind, and he wonders whether he should repent his sins or rejoice in the final triumph of good over evil. Mortal Adam marvels at the divine workings of his creator; his
blissful astonishment is further proof of God’s infinite goodness and power.
Though God Himself describes the magnificent outcome of His plan, declaring, “in
Mercy and Justice both,/ Through Heav’n and Earth, so shall my glory excel,” Milton
does not mean to say that the future of mankind after the Fall is preferable to what it
could have been in the Garden of Eden (III.132-133). Danielson addresses this sentiment in his work, asserting, “however great our future, it will never match the still greater
future that Adam and Eve and their offspring would have enjoyed in a world without
sin” (156). If Adam and Eve had obeyed God’s command, they could have remained in
the Garden of Eden: Eve without pain in childbirth and Adam spared from hard labor.
Before the Fall, Adam and Eve’s existence was perfection; they knew not of evil and
thus lived in harmony with their surroundings and God’s glory. Milton meticulously
portrays the beauty and fruitfulness of Eden as well as Adam and Eve’s ideal, prelapsarian relationship in order to emphasize the tragedy of man’s downfall.
Man suffers greatly for his disobedience to God, and Paradise Lost ends with the
solemn image of Adam and Eve walking away from the Garden of Eden. However, the
epic poem is not a complete tragedy because it elucidates man’s redemption and salvation. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God’s benevolence prevails over Satan’s
corruption, and good triumphs over evil. Milton justifies the existence of evil in the
world by exhibiting God’s creation of free-willed humans and asserting that evil originates from those who reject God’s mercy. Milton’s God foresees evil and, by design, utilizes it to increase His glory. In writing his epic narrative, John Milton knew that such
lofty subject matter demanded delicate care. Paradise Lost confidently illustrates a convincing argument for the existence of evil in a universe governed by an omnipotent, omniscient, and benevolent God, and asserts itself as a successful and beautiful theodicy.
Works Consulted
Burden, Dennis. The Logical Epic. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1967.
Danielson, Dennis. Cambridge Companion to Milton. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999.
Milton, John. Paradise Lost & Paradise Regained. New York: Signet, 2001.
others’ fancies, a slave and a captive under the authority of their teaching.” – Montaigne, “On the Education
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