Theodicy In John Milton's Paradise Lost

Milton’s Theodicy

(An analysis on Milton’s Theodicy used in Paradise Lost)

Part 1: What is Milton’s Theodicy?

Theodicy can be described as, the vindication of divine goodness and providence in view of the existence of evil. In Milton’s Paradise Lost, the entire story is about good and bad. Depending on a person’s point of views would determine which one Satan or God is good or evil. As William Therorio expands on the subject of good and evil, “"If the true self is eternal, then any impingements upon it during the person’s embodied lifetime can amount to no more than a vanishingly minute portion of that self’s experience over the course of its eternal existence. The most hideous embodied life that we can imagine is tantamount to no more than

Before the Garden of Eden Satan and his arch angels were all living in Heaven. Satan and his followers wanted to overthrow God and revolt. God is all knowing so he was already prepared for the plan of Satan, but Satan underestimated the strength, power, and wisdom of God. When the arch angels tried to overthrow the kingdom of God, they were thrown out of Heaven. When they were thrown out of Heaven they were falling down to hell for nine days. As Tom Ascol said, “On earth even atheists enjoy the benefits of God’s goodness. But in hell, these blessings will be nonexistent. Those consigned there will remember God’s goodness, and will even have some awareness of the unending pleasures of heaven, but they will have no access to them.” “We shall be free; th’ almighty hath not built” (259) God gave them the freedom to fall or to stand. The fear of Hell was nonexistent when Satan was thrown out of Heaven. After falling down for nine days, the arch angels and Satan made

Even through all of the rough encounters that Satan and his arch angels encountered with the plan to overthrow the new race that God created, they were successful in the end. Satan transformed himself into the serpent, and climbed over the wall which was being guarded by followers of God. As Henry Lowell enlightens, “After God pronounced judgments on them, to replace their leaves, God made them clothes of animal skins. Although obscured, God had to sacrifice animals to get the skins, and this was temporary atoning blood.” After convincing Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, she sees the world in a completely new way. She finally understood that they were naked and she was ashamed that they were naked. She wanted to share this new found knowledge with Adam, and she convinced him to eat from the forbidden tree as well. God watched as all of this happen, but He knew that He had to give them freewill. “Regained in Heav’n, or what more lost in Hell?” (270) All was lost, but hope was yet regained once again because of the love of