The Origin of Man's Fall in the Garden Jacob Goldstein

Although God asserts otherwise in Milton's work "Paradise Lost", it seems certain that it was God's will, and not the cunning endeavors of Satan, that provided for the inevitable fall of man. Aware that Satan was the physical manifestation of evil, God allowed Satan and his minions to persist in Hell uncontained; He exerted no effort to ensure that the follies of His fallen angels did not pervert the perfection of His newly created beings on Earth. As well as this, God admittedly foresees all that will transpire in the future. He is aware that Lucifer will disobey Him just as certainly as He is cognizant that man will follow suit arising from Satan's intervention in the garden. Milton's God is a subtly tyrannical force that demands justice be exacted from His subjects when they fail to offer Him their uncompromised love and worship. Yet it seems clear that blame can reside with no other being except God. This becomes evident upon acknowledging the fact that when God states that He created Adam and Eve "sufficient to have stood, though free to fall" (Book III, 99), He conveniently disregards the truth of the matter. To be factual, the latter portion of this statement ought to be interpreted...