Milton to Mormon: Free Yourself from Mental Slavery

April 05, 2011 by Rosalynde Welch

Continued from Page 1

The Book of Mormon, as scripture for (or of, if you like) the modern world, does have something to say about knowledge, faith, and freedom. Milton's God may be a tyrant, but he pales in comparison to the tyranny with which objective knowledge compels assent. One may choose to deny God, but one cannot simply choose to deny that 2 + 2 = 4, not without compelling evidence of one's own. Book of Mormon prophets recognize this tyranny of knowledge and they resist it, as they resist political tyranny and moral tyranny. In the classic passage on faith and knowledge, the prophet Alma compares the mental compulsion of objective knowledge to the sinful political compulsion of an unequal society:

Therefore, blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; . . . blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is baptized without stubbornness of heart, yea, without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to know, before [he] will believe (Alma 32:16).

For Milton, forced obedience is meaningless; for Alma, forced belief is meaningless. If the analogy between political tyranny and epistemological tyranny is a sound one—full disclosure: I have my doubts—then Alma's conclusion is inevitable: true faith can only be freely chosen, and thus the tyranny of objective knowledge must be overthrown. This is the logic behind the familiar suggestion, implausible on its face, that God deliberately removes or conceals evidence of his works in order to allow his children to choose faith with maximum mental liberty.

(One hears this justification of why the golden plates are no longer extant, or why evidence of Nephite civilization has not been found.)

The logic holds, for Alma just as for Milton, if one can insist on the fundamental freedom of the human mind. And that "if" is the harshest tyrant of all.

Page: 2 of 2

4/5/2011 4:00:00 AM

Mormon

Salt and Seed

Faith

Free will

Milton

Sacred Texts

Mormonism

more at patheos

'Elijah Peele': Rock, Redemption and a Return to Faith

DeWayne Hamby

A Great Awakening: An Extraordinary Film

Beverly R. Green

"L'avventura" and Human Weakness

Zachary Miller

Gen AI Thrives When Employees Lead the Charge

Gleb Tsipursky

About Rosalynde Welch

Rosalynde Welch is an independent scholar who makes her home in St. Louis, Missouri, with her husband and four children.

Patheos Logo Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos