John Milton - Paradise Lost - Free Will and Predestination

In Paradise Lost, John Milton takes a stab at the seeming paradox of predestination versus free will that is inherent in Christian theology. The classic question is as follows: if God is omnipotent and knows the future, can it be reasoned that the future is set? If the future is indeed locked into place, how can humans have free will? Since free will is an integral component of most Christian belief systems, there is, on the surface at least, a problem.

In a passage where God himself is speaking to Jesus, God explains that even if he foresaw Satan’s rebellion, there was no abrogation of Satan’s and his followers’ free will.  In referring to the Satanic Rebels,

So were created, nor can justly accuse 

Thir maker, or thir making, or thir Fate; 

As if Predestination over-rul’d

Thir will, dispos’d by absolute Decree 

Or high foreknowledge; they themselves decreed

Thir own revolt, not I: if I foreknew, 

Foreknowledge had no influence on their fault,

Which had no less prov’d certain unforeknown. 

So without least impulse or shadow of Fate, 

Or aught by me immutablie foreseen, 

They trespass, Authors to themselves in all 

Both what they judge and what they choose; for so 

I formd them free, and free they must remain, 

Till they enthrall themselves: I else must change 

Thir nature, and revoke the high Decree 

Unchangeable, Eternal, which ordain’d  

Thir freedom, they themselves ordain’d thir fall.  

The first sort by thir own suggestion fell,  

I find that Milton’s God’s reasoning makes sense, at least intuitively. Even if God can see the future, and thus the future is cast, individuals (this includes the character of Satan as well as ourselves) are, from our own point of view, creatures moving and acting in linear time. We still freely make our own decisions. When God says,

Foreknowledge had no influence on their fault,

It seems to mean that even if the future is set, it is the individual (in this case, Satan and his followers) who sets it. Thus, the mechanism of free will is still operating.

Another way I look at it is like viewing the actions of creatures that exercised choice in the past.  If I know a person robbed a bank last week, it is an inconvertible fact that the person robbed the bank; it is set into the universe that he robbed the bank. This does not alter the fact that the person exercised free will when choosing to rob the bank.

Assuming that God is talking for Milton here, the conclusion is that the paradox of free will versus predestination is a false paradox. The two are not mutually exclusive. Though this is all a bit mind bending to me, I concur with Milton here. There are some scientific models that relate to the fields of physics and neuroscience which suggest that certain events and actions are set into our natures and the  Universe and in a way are pre - determined, and that brings into question the role of free will in humans (These are neither universally accepted nor have they been proven.). Though not entirely congruous in comparison to Milton’s universe, in regards to these models, I find Milton’s reasoning enlightening and thought provoking.

The other striking thing about the above passage is how eloquently and artistically Milton is able to communicate what are complex philosophical and metaphysical concepts. I find that one way sublime art is made is to take these big questions that are inherent to life and existence and express them in aesthetically satisfying forms. Even if one ultimately disagrees with what the author is getting at, the results here are still sublime.