Omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent

I tried to have a discussion with my mom tonight about Paradise Lost. I went into the conversation knowing that if the glory of God was in any way compromised, she would basically pitch a fit and put down everything I was saying. She is a strong methodist who attends bible studies several times a week.

I asked her the same question that Coach Crook asked us in class: If God is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent as Christians have claimed through the scripture, than how can Satan ever deceive him? How can Satan ever get the upper hand, how can he ever win, why does he even try if there is no way that he can win?

My mom claimed that Satan has never been able to deceive God. She said that at times, it has looked like God has been tricked, but in the end he hasn't. I am not well-versed enough in the scripture to disprove her, but I believe that there are probably some examples of Satan having some success. If not, evil is present and often successful in everyday life.

She went on to discount Milton, claiming that his word is not scripture and is not the word of God. Coach Crook said that people often blur the line between fiction and reality when it comes to Paradise Lost. These events have made me question the definition of scripture. When God spoke through Moses, the words were recorded and it became scripture. As far as I know, there is no empirical proof that God actually talked to Moses. People simply believed him. In the same way, if God speaks through Milton, why is Paradise Lost not considered to be scripture, while the words of Moses, John, Mark, etc. are considered to be scripture with not much more (maybe not any) truth? After all, much of Milton's epic was based on the apocrypha books of the Bible, words that are or could have been considered to be scripture.