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Why Do Bad Things Exist In Paradise Lost Analysis

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Why do bad things exist? (An analysis of John Milton’s theodicy in Paradise Lost) In today’s world, the news and social media bombard people with stories of war, disease, and evil. Some people have even stopped watching the news because it is sad and terrifying. Stories of children dying of cancer and innocent civilians being killed are everywhere people turn. In the 1600’s, during the Renaissance and the enlightenment, people were discovering new things everyday, but bad things were still happening. The plague was wiping out thousands of people, and no one could figure out why. At this point in time, England was predominantly religious, but people couldn’t understand how bad things happened when there was an all-loving God. John Milton decided he would write an epic …show more content…

If man was never tempted to turn away from God, nothing bad would ever happen. True, life would be extremely different and marvelous, but how would God know if mankind truly loved him? Emma Hughes states, “Paradise Lost illustrates God’s creation of man and free will as evidence of His perfect nature, not as a contradiction of His benevolence,”(Hughes). God creating man with free will was no mistake. Milton states, ¨In the beginning how the Heavens and Earth rose out of Chaos,¨(1, 9). God made everything and planned everything according to his purpose. Rulers and King’s who required forced rule are seen as tyrants and evil. God is everything perfect and therefore makes no mistakes. He made man have free will in order to have pure joy and perfection. He is all-loving and all-powerful, but he can’t force anyone to do anything because that is not just and not perfect. God warned Adam and Eve about Satan being in Eden to tempt. All God could do was warn them if he wanted to remain perfect. Even though they were warned, Adam and Eve still fell, ignoring God 's warnings of death and

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