Paradise Lost: Whence Free Will?

One of the Bookies* emailed:

Yes, we have a pretty raunchy bunch of malevolent spirits in Paradise Lost, though they dress well, seem to enjoy a lot of leisure time and have no property or income taxes to pay.

nonetheless, here are some lazy man's and / or poor reader's questions :

What is the source of Satan, Beelzebub, and the other's evil?

Yes, it is their egos; their attitude of "non serviam", ( I will not serve) -

But...?

How did they get 'free will' in the first place?

Is any of this clear?

Good question. Milton expressly describes God's giving free will to Adam and Eve, but I do not recall any discussion of how the fallen angels got their free will. Presumably, Milton's theology would be that God must have given that also.

But that raises a separate, and rather curious, issue: if God already gave the angels free will, why did he see the need to create man (with free will)? Isn't this just duplication? The angels could choose to worship and obey God (or not), just as man could. Is this just an example of belt and suspenders creation, like the multiplicity of the starry host, which Milton does note?

While I haven't searched the text for an answer, my gut says that Milton would say that there was more significance to the creation of man. If both angels and man have free will, and if there were rebellion -- as there was with both the angels and man -- why could not God show his grace toward the fallen (angels or man)? Yet Milton clearly states that God will not show grace toward the fallen angels, though he anticipated Adam's sin and intended from the beginning to show grace to man. Why the double standard: if God gave the free will to both, why not show grace to both?

Again lacking textual support, my gut says that Milton would say that there is something qualitatively different in God's relationship with angels and man such that, although both may have free will, God's reaction to the exercise of that will is justly different in the two cases. Anyone care to elucidate what that difference in relationship might be?


* Who may identify himself, if he desires.