Paradise Lost

Hi all! Thanks for coming to our Christmas Mommy Salon, and our discussion of Paradise Lost. The poem proved a challenging read, but I really enjoyed our conversation. For anyone interested, here is my paper on the poem, written in an English Lit class at BYU a couple of years ago.

The Fallacy of Self-Determination in Paradise Lost

“Give me thine honor” (Moses 4:1). This infamous phrase, spoken by Satan to God the Father during the Great Council of Heaven, is perhaps the most audacious line in all of scripture. Lucifer, one of billions of God’s children, volunteered himself and his own plan to redeem all men—on condition that he receive the glory. Although John Milton does not quote from The Pearl of Great Price, in his epic poem of the Fall he explores this disposition of Satan—a disposition, it seems, that he shares with God’s other human creations—self-determination. Self-determination is a humanist concept, embodying a sense of self-will, ambition, and control over one’s own life. When used in a religious context, however, “self-determination” takes on connotations of pride and refusing to submit to God’s will. Christians have learned to be wary of the prefix “self-” and its implications of spiritual rebellion. In Paradise Lost, Milton explores the concept of self-determination as he chronicles Satan’s great fall and the mortalizing decision of Adam and Eve. As Christian readers, we begin to see the distinction between self-determination and its true spiritual counterpart, agency; and we realize what self-determination really is: a counterfeit of the gift of choice that God has given us.

Satan’s original goal was to dethrone God and assume control over all mankind. His is the ultimate ambition, fueled by a supreme sense of self-determination. Milton wrote,

His pride
Had cast him out from Heav’n, with all his host
Of rebel angels, by whose aid aspiring
To set himself in glory above his peers. (725,
lines 36-39)

Determined to remain autonomous from God, Satan refuses to acknowledge God’s victory. Even when thrust down to Hell, Satan stubbornly declares,

Hell
Receive thy new possessor: one who brings
A mind not to be changed by place or time.
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n. (730, lines 251-55)

He continues, “Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n” (line 263). Here we observe some defining characteristics of self-determination: a desire to surpass others in fame and power, a dogged resolve not to admit failure or mistakes, and an insistence on absolute control (eventually, that insistence spreads to control over others). Satan does not attempt to disguise his ambition or his pride. All of his actions are triggered by self-interest. Because a person possessed by self-determination cannot bear to see another exceed him in success or pleasure, he seeks to bring others down when he himself cannot rise. Before assaulting Eve, Satan as the serpent hisses to himself, “Save what is in destroying, other joy/ To me is lost” (Milton 821, lines 478-79). His purpose in destroying mankind is twofold; first, to subject them to the same misery he wallows in, and second, in hopes of conquering them and ruling over them. Satan’s self-determination is blatantly contrary to God’s will.

The great danger of self-determination is its masquerade as free agency. We have seen Satan’s undisguised ambition and hunger for power and recognition; now we will look at its more subtle manifestation in Eve. Eve warns us of her budding vanity in her very first soliloquy as she tells of her encounter with her reflection in the lake (Milton 787, lines 460-66). Self-love is not a synonym of self-determination (nor is Eve’s first-time fascination with her own image necessarily self-love), but it is a contributing element. We see Eve’s stubborn will as she debates with Adam about splitting up to tend the Garden of Eden. Here are more indications of self-determination: unmovable opinions and stubborn independence. Satan exploits Eve’s self-interest when he unleashes his temptation. First, he flatters her. Then, he tells of his experience with the fruit of the tree—how it has made him wise and articulate—in order to woo Eve’s desire for power. Finally, the serpent undermines Eve’s allegiance to God. As her fear of and respect for God wane, Eve becomes a deity of sorts unto herself. Eve acts deliberately, consciously attempting to elevate herself by eating of the fruit, no longer subject (she thinks) to God’s law. As she decides to eat of the tree, Eve convinces herself,

What fear I then, rather what know to fear
Under this ignorance of good and evil,
Of God or death, of law or penalty? (827, lines 773-75)

She abdicates accountability, an essential part of true agency. Two tell-tale symptoms of self-determination are the denial of consequences and the renunciation of higher authority—Eve manifests both.

In direct contrast to Satan’s demand for glory and Eve’s refusal to take responsibility, Jesus said, “Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever” (Moses 4:2). Milton wrote of this eternally consequential statement, “As a sacrifice/ Glad to be offered, he attends the will/ Of his great Father” (Milton 770, lines 269-71). Jesus’ selfless sacrifice did not void his free will. On the contrary, as he offered his life, he said,

I for [man’s] sake will leave
Thy bosom, and this glory next to thee
Freely put off, and for him lastly die… (769, lines 238-40)

Unlike Satan and Eve, who felt they had to throw off external controls to gain true freedom, Jesus freely accepted a set of circumstances in order to achieve victory over sin and death. True agency, exemplified by Jesus Christ, recognizes divine law and accepts accountability. As self-determination tries to avoid consequences, it racks up a debt to the law—and to the Lawgiver. Rather than becoming free, a law unto itself, it enters into bondage. As agency, on the other hand, accepts accountability and acknowledges the authority of the Lawgiver, it fulfills consequences and remains free.

Satan’s stubborn self-determination has always and will ever lead him from pain to pain, misery to misery. However, mankind can throw off the self-made shackles of self-determination by submitting to law and consequences, thereby embracing the true gift of agency. In Eve’s quest for liberating wisdom and superior power, she became a slave to sin and death. In order to become free from those terrifying bonds, Eve and all mankind must freely submit to Jesus, whose freely given redemption will release them. God will not revoke the agency of man (Milton 767, line 124). Adam says to Eve,

Within [man] himself
The danger lies, yet lies within his power:
Against
his will he can receive no harm.
But God left free the will, for what obeys
Reason is free, and reason he made right… (Milton 818, lines 349-52)

Each person’s salvation is within his or her power. God has granted each man and woman agency and has given each man and woman reason to govern their agency. When agency is abused (self-determination), the only way to undo the harm is to freely submit to Jesus, for he has freely offered his grace. The Creator decreed to Jesus, “Man shall not quite be lost, but saved who will,/ Yet not of will in him, but grace in me…” (Milton 768, lines 173-74). Agency forfeit in foolish bouts of self-determination can be reclaimed by choosing to accept and submit to the grace of God.

Just as Satan personifies godless, lawless self-determination; Jesus Christ personifies grace, mercy, and hope to the fallen Adam and Eve. He offers to restore their agency and bring them once more to “stand/ On even ground against his mortal foe” (Milton 768, lines 178-79) if they will. Just as the irresponsible use of self-determination leads to fallen-ness, the proper use of reason and agency can redeem mankind.