Milton and Augustine: Patterns of Augustinian Thought in Paradise LostThe first complete study of the influence of Augustine--"the most judicious of all the Church Fathers" --on Milton's epic of the Fall of Man, this book presents a detailed investigation of the principal dogmatic concepts in Paradise Lost studied against the background of Augustinian theology. Professor Fiore shows how Milton--unlike most other Puritans, and like Augustine--always emphasized the hope in "God's infinite mercy." Both men were fundamentally optimists. This study concentrates mainly on Augustine's and Milton's teaching on the Fall of the Angels, preternatural Adam and Eve, Original Sin, The Incarnation, Christology, and Redemption. Man, despite Original Sin, "still retained an intellect which could judge right from wrong, and a freedom whereby he could choose between right and wrong." Just as man, like Lucifer, was free to fall, so too is he free to choose salvation. This pattern of free will dominates the whole of Milton's epic, and is, Fiore argues, very Augustinian. Fiore concludes that Milton, like many humanists, Christian philosophers, Reformers, and theologians of every variety in the early seventeenth century, drew widely from Augustine and that such indebtedness gave a richer and fuller theological dimension to his epic of lost paradise and enhanced the meaning of the poem. |
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... Glory obscur'd , " and the host of fallen with " Thir Glory wither'd " ( 1.612 ) , that their natures are now evil is to conclude that they have lost their existence . It is not surprising then that , standing like a tower , Satan's ...
... glory God willed to Christ as his Son . Indeed , it is an implementation of glory . In his absolute wisdom and eternity , God knew that sin was an intrinsic possibility to any created creature , man or angel , because of that creature's ...
... glory , where , granted , the priestly function of Mediator may come to an end but the priesthood of Christ , which is identified with the kingdom of glory and the church , will not.53 This fact makes all the more interesting and all ...
Contents
The Angelic Fall | 12 |
Preternatural Life | 23 |
Original Sin | 42 |
Copyright | |
4 other sections not shown