To justify the ways of god to men, paradise Lost

1. To Justify the Ways of God to
Men
Touqeer Raza

2. Origin of To Justify the Ways of God to
Men:
 This phrase is taken from first book of John Milton’s long
epic poem, Paradise Lost. In the opening stanza of this
work, Milton writes, “I may assert eternal providence, /
And justify the ways of God to men.” (Line,
26). Here, Milton explains the cause of man’s fall. He
argues that the fall of man is fortunate, though its
outcomes would be bad. However, human beings, he
reiterates, would endure, as it is the execution of God’s
purpose. No doubt, humankind would suffer the
consequences for their faults, yet they would find the
mercy and grace of God through knowledge and
experience.

3. Meaning of To Justify the Ways of
God to Men:
 “Justifying the ways of God,” refers to God’s nature to
turn everything from bad to good. God has created the
earth, and humans to replace bad angels, and He sent
Jesus to redeem the fallen humans. This is exactly the
difference between God and Satan, who is an egoist,
thinks only of his interests, and vowed to seek
vengeance upon God for expelling him from heaven, by
converting good to evil. Apparently, God seems to be
arbitrary in setting the law, and Satan looks reasonable
for being rebellious. Hence, the poet feels a compulsion
to talk about God’s case and grace.

4. Usage of To Justify the Ways of
God to Men
 In common usage, this phrase can be applied to
describe our fate or destiny. For example, if we find
happiness or sadness, we can justify it as the will of
God, who is Almighty and Sovereign. We assume that
whatever good comes to us is because of Him, and
that would be for our advantage as He has done with
Adam and Eve. The bad things in our lives happen, on
the other hand, due to our own faults. However, its
best use is in literary speeches and literary gatherings.

5. Literary Source of To Justify the Ways
of God to Men:
 We find this phrase in Book-I of Milton’s poem, “paradise Lost,
where the poet says:
 “Of man’s first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste …
I may assert eternal providence,
And justify the ways of God to men.”
(Book-I, Lines, 1-26)
 We observe disobedience in bad angels and Satan. In fact, Satan
spreads his lies everywhere about the tyranny of God, whereas
God gives Satan his liberty, and extends protection to Adam and
Eve through education.

6. Literary Analysis of To Justify the
Ways of God to Men:
 From a literary point of view, this is a heavy sentence that has
put the entire book in just one theme. Here the poet’s idea of
justification is nothing about arrogance. He has not used this
word “justification” in modern sense to prove how an action
can be justified. He has rather used it to show the justice
underlying an action. Milton is trying to show that death, fall,
and salvation of man are acts of a just God. Thus, to
understand its theme, readers need to not acknowledge his
ideas as a proof of actions of God; rather, they need to
understand the concept and idea of justice lying behind God’s
actions.