2008 - Communication Across the Curriculum (CAC)

E n g l i s h
endowed with free will. Free will is an integral, if not central, theme of
Paradise Lost. The story’s conflict is created by Satan’s use of free
will in his rebellion against God and in his decision to tempt man.
Man’s free will is exercised when he chooses sin over God’s law. The
Son of God’s free will is shown when He offers His life to redeem
mankind, and God’s free will is demonstrated in His acceptance of
the Son’s offer and His promise to forgive mankind. Free will, as
shown in Milton’s Paradise Lost, is a glorious paradox, at once the
cause of man’s sorrows, but at the same time, the narrow path by
which mankind is offered grace.
One may begin the study of free will in Paradise Lost by following
in chronological order the incidents and examples of the exercise
of free will. As one reads, one may notice that the cycle of free will
and its consequences travel a proverbial full circle. The cyclical
structure of this work gives Paradise Lost a beautiful coherence. The
first example of free will begins with the beginning of time, with the
Creator Himself.
According to Milton in book VII of Paradise Lost, Christ, not God,
is the Creator (Nicholson 230). This need not be overly shocking
to one of a more orthodox persuasion because John chapter one,
verse one states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God” (Holy Bible). Milton envisions
Christ as the sole Creator; while a Trinitarian doctrine would say that
Christ and God, along with the Holy Spirit, being One, were all the
Creator. In Milton’s mind, Christ and God seem to work in tandem,
as Christ is not eternal like God. According to Milton, Christ was
created, He did not exist from the creation of the world like God. So,
given Milton’s unorthodox, heretical view, one might say that God,
as the Creator of Christ, and Christ, as the Creator of the world, are
partners in Creation.
Christ, like God, is an omnipotent being, that is, Christ may do
or create whatever He chooses. Since the entire world and all of its
rules and regulations exist entirely at the Creator’s behest, one can
conclude that Christ used His free will in order to give free will to
man. As Creator, He could have easily chosen to withhold this “Godlike”
privilege from His creation (Elledge 396). However, by giving His
creation free will, He exalts the man and woman. From book III, the
reader can easily ascertain that Christ wanted thinking, reasonable
followers, not robots who mechanically served Him. God explains the
concept of free will, “Freely they stood who stood, and fell who fell /
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