You make less choices when you're dead. // Haylee Lynd

       "Here at least / we shall be free," says Satan, searching for some sliver of hope about his situation (1.258-259). He has just been thrown into Hell by a God that he cannot defeat and knows he cannot defeat (or if he doesn't know, the demons who have been throw into Hell with him will tell him). In addition, at this point in the book, the only reason Satan is able to move around is because God allowed he be unchained from the lake of fire. Satan is able to make his own choices. For example, he decides that rather than trying to completely overthrow God, he and those he is with will pervert all God does for good so that some means of evil may come from it. However, God knows he is going to do so. God knows everything.  He gives free will to Satan but at the same time, Satan cannot even lift himself up unless God allows it to take place. So are Satan, Beelzebub, and the rest of their companions truly free? 

    Because of what I believe about free will, I would argue that they are free to a certain extent. They have intellect and are able to make whatever choices they would like. They are even allowed to plot against God and to disobey God, continually. However, Satan argues that they are more free in Hell than they are in Heaven because in Hell they are in charge, but in Heaven they serve God.  I disagree. In both Heaven and Hell, they have the ability to make whatever choices they would like. Obviously so, because Satan chooses to disobey God.  One could argue that you are more free in Hell, because you are able to disobey God all the time and not worry about being thrown from Heaven, but the initial disobedience is what put you there in the first place. It is more freeing to choose to obey God and remain in Heaven by His side than to choose to disobey God. The reason being is that your sin ties you down. Your freedom, your happiness, and your life all come with limitations when you live in sin because you have to deal with the consequences of your sin, including death. If you choose to live in obedience to God, those chains don't prevent you from doing what you wish to do (to serve God). Your choices and your actions are not limited by your death. 


This could be debated a million different ways, but in the end, we are all free because of our free will, but the consequences of disobedience to God, especially death, are certainly limiting to what we can do.


P.S. I commented on Ian's and Breanna's posts.

Comments

  1. Abigale BellSeptember 6, 2021 at 4:55 PM

    Hi Haylee! Awesome blog post! I totally agree with your perspective on free will. It's a hotly debated topic, but, from my own experience, choosing obedience to God always leaves you free. It's a freedom that is not shadowed my lies or convolution, rather, it is freedom in the knowledge that the choice you made by following God is best.

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  2. The Mahn-sterSeptember 6, 2021 at 5:25 PM

    Another note about the free will of the demons; once they are cast out of heaven, they are not free to return. When they were in heaven, they had the freedom to travel anywhere, even to hell, though they probably wouldn't want to. Now, they are stuck with hell as their home base, unable to freely travel as they once were.

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  3. Emily OttsSeptember 6, 2021 at 6:29 PM

    I agree with what you said about living in sin not being actual freedom. It's interesting to see how Satan and his followers truly believe they are free in Hell, when really, I would say they are prisoners to their pride and rage.

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  4. Taylor ViceSeptember 6, 2021 at 8:45 PM

    I love when you stated that sin ties you down because it is so true. It is a much better feeling to obey God and follow his will rather than sinning and the guilt and consequences tying you down. Satan and his demons are too prideful to realize that the "power" they possess in Hell is not freeing them from the consequences in the end at all.

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  5. Song WhittingtonSeptember 6, 2021 at 9:29 PM

    I like your thoughts on free will. I've had many a late night wondering how far free will truly goes when it comes to the infinite that is God. I like the way you talk about how, in the end, God does have the final say.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Emma DSeptember 6, 2021 at 9:37 PM

    I wholeheartedly agree with this! I believe that Satan experiences this too, when he encounters the triple gate at Hell's entrance/exit and Sin is the jailer. What I have a hard time with is that Milton slips in all of these "over explanations", such as Sin and Death being Satan's offspring. While this may be the case, what does that mean for Satan? Does his free will hold him accountable to these things if he "controls" them, such as commanding Sin and Death? While I've always believed death to be a consequence of sin, Milton makes it seem like Satan literally controls the consequences he's supposed to be facing. Either way, Satan is in a dangerous, dangerous place (obviously!)... because if he isn't being held accountable by natural consequences that affect humans, then he's going to face direct divine consequence again.
    (I also think that Paradise Lost is a minefield for overthinking... I hope this isn't a confusing comment!)

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