Season 3 Podcast 143 Milton's Paradise Lost Pt VI Bk III Freewill Pt II

Milton’s Paradise Lost: Book III, Pt VI, Freewill Pt IIThis podcast entitle Freewill Pt II is a continuation of Freewill Pt I presented in Podcast 133. In this Podcast we complete the argument given by the Father to his Son Jesus Christ as he explains why we have freewill. So will fallHe and his faithless Progeny: whose fault?Whose but his own? ingrate, he had of meAll he could have; I made him just and right,Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall.Such I created all th’ Ethereal PowersAnd Spirits, both them who stood & them who failed;Milton said, “I made him just and right, Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall.” The scriptures tell us that we will not be tempted more than are able to resist. In Milton’s words, God created all the Ethereal Powers and Spirits, both those who stood and those who failed, meaning he created Satan and the third part who followed him. He refers to the as Ethereal Powers because they were cursed to never have a body.  They will remain spirits forever. God also created us, and he rewarded us because we fought with Michael against Satan and thus earned the right to come to earth and gain a physical body.Heavenly Father continues.Freely they stood who stood, and fell who fell.Not free, what proof could they have given sincereOf true allegiance, constant Faith or Love,Where only what they needs must do, appeared,Not what they would? what praise could they receive?In other words, if we were not created free how could we prove our sincerely, our true allegiance, our constant faith, and our love for God.   Only through opposition can we show faith in God.  Only those who endure temptation and choose the path set by God show their love for God.  Christ said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Heavenly Father also asked how they can be rewarded if they couldn’t’ show proof of their love?  How could they be worthy of immortality and eternal life?He continuesWhat pleasure I from such obedience paid,When Will and Reason (Reason also is choice)Useless and vain, of freedom both despoiled,Made passive both, had served necessity,Not me. The Father asks, what pleasure could he have in forced obedience. He did not want his children to be slaves. Two things give us freedom. One is will. Will is inherent in intelligence. Freewill comes from obedience to law. God gave us law to free our will to follow our own desires. Another is reason. God also gave us reason or the powers of critical thinking or inductive and deductive logic. Milton states, “Reason also is choice.” In other words, we are supposed to use our mind not just our feelings to help form wise decisions. The mind is its own place and gives us freewill. Using the powers of deduction, in other words what we call the scientific method, we can logically arrive at solutions to our problems.  In fact, the primary avenues of freewill are ·      The mind, which gives us inductive and deductive powers·      The heart that we may feel the prompting of the Holy Ghost.·      The senses, sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell, that we may have physical contact with the world and with God. Through our ears we may hear the word of God. Through our eyes we may see the creations of God and partake of its beauty as well as through the other senses.