Milton's depiction of free will and Christian faith centers on an omniscient God of selective omnipotence. He predicts the fall of man, without doing anything to cause or prevent it. It is Satan who instigates the fall, knowing that God knows that his imperfect creations would be tempted. Like Satan, Adam and Eve can choose to obey or disobey God, and it is free will that gives meaning to this decision. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Through the writing of Paradise Lost, Milton sought to "justify the ways of God to man." His rewriting of Genesis provides his perspective on unanswered theological questions, including the topic of predestination. In “The Fallacy of Paradise Lost,” Millicent Bell explains how “the transition between uncorrupt man and woman and corrupt humanity must simply be accepted as having occurred.” Bell argues that the fall may be predestined, although it should not be considered a sin. She considers it "the beginning of self-discovery by creatures who are essentially human, that is, imperfect in a hundred ways." Bell's interpretation contradicts Milton's theological beliefs. She makes it clear that the self-discovery she describes is itself sinful. Eve shows such self-awareness before eating the fruit, when she stares at her reflection. Milton describes Eve's vanity negatively in Paradise Lost, making this argument invalid. Furthermore, this argument ignores God's soliloquy in Book III, which states that God created [man] righteous and righteous, sufficient to endure, but free to fail. God himself addresses the topic of predestination in this speech, explaining that Adam and Eve cannot "justly accuse their creator or their destiny" as if "predestination prevailed over their will." the first disobedience was not as troubling to Milton as it might be to us, since Milton took the Genesis account as received truth. Although Milton read Genesis as the word of God, he was content to stray from the Scriptures when he wrote Paradise Lost. These changes include the merging of Satan and the serpent as one character, which explains why Eve could be tempted so easily. It is unlikely that Milton was unconcerned with man's early disobedience, considering he was concerned enough with the fall of man to write a heretical adaptation of Genesis. However, Bell's analysis of Paradise Lost offers some valuable insights regarding free will and sin. He refers to Areopagitica, where Milton explains that "we do not bring innocence into the world, we rather bring impurity: that which purifies is proof, and proof is from that which is contrary." Bell argues that Adam needed to learn self-discipline through "painful experience" if he was not willing to accept God's commands. This suggests that there is hope for humanity to regain their former status; a feeling supported by God in Paradise Lost. God states that for having offended His Majesty, all [man's] progeny are doomed to die "unless someone sufficient is found to answer for his offense and suffer his punishment." This prefigures the redemption of man through Christ. In The Significance of Free Will, Robert Kane mentions that even the angels in Paradise Lost are seen “wondering how they could freely choose to serve or reject God, given that God had made them what they were and they knew beforehand what they would do.” This may seem like a paradox, but since God's omniscience is absolute, he might be able to”..