Tyranny of Heaven: When Choice is No Choice

In John Milton's Paradise Lost, God grants that without choice mankind is not the creation he wishes them to be. It is choice that is the supposed defining characteristic of mankind that is bestowed by God. Yet what an odd thing choice is, at least in the biblical sense. Free will and the exercise thereof are the key element to the human side of Milton's work and the theme therein. Milton's theme of choice and free will, however, is flawed on a fundamental level. The genesis of this flaw resides in the biblical concept of an 'all-knowing God' and his ultimate plan for the world that he created.

To define choice, is simply to state that one has absolute and unquestioned freedom over their own actions, thought and emotions, essentially over their every existence and all that makes one human. To use this definition then, it can be quickly seen that there would be no such concept as 'choice' or 'free will', at least in Milton's epic. The concept of an all-knowing God flies in the face of choice. For to be all knowing would mean that the outcomes of every event in the life of even a single human would have already been determined and set to a certain parameter, from which no change could occur.

Not even Milton's God himself is free to choose. Once again, the idea of an all-knowing being creates a roadblock. Not only would God know all the decisions of man, but in an odd divine way, he would know all of decisions as well, effectively setting himself on a set course. In Milton's universe, there is no choice, only the hope false choice provides. But is it a hope that can change anything? Such a question does indeed raise many more such questions and begs to break the cycle of 'no choice'.

Simply put, if God knew what decisions you were to make and then you did not make that decision, would that be free choice on your part and an admission that God is not all knowing? Or would it rather support the theory of God being omnipotent and having already known your desire to change the outcome of a decision? Simple logic argues that although a 'different' course was taken, God would still have not violated his premise of all knowing and would indeed have been expecting such a decision to be made. Therefore, in Milton's work free will and human choice can never be exercised, even the free will of God can be questioned if not outright disproved. It seems that as humans, the only choice to be had is to have no choice at all.