John Milton

Life

Milton was born in London in 1608 and studied at Christ's College, Cambridge. Although he could have become a clergyman in the Church of England, he is reported to have declined that path because he opposed episcopacy, the government of the church by bishops, as well as the ceremonies of the established church. During the Puritan Revolution of the 1640s, he was active as a Puritan polemicist supporting the Parliamentarian cause. After the execution of Charles I in 1649, he served as Secretary for Foreign Tongues to the Council of State of the newly established republic, and he later continued to serve under the government of Oliver Cromwell. He became completely blind in the early 1650s. After the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, he was briefly arrested and then released, and he subsequently completed his major works by dictation. He died in London in 1674.

Work and Achievements

Although he was not a minister, Milton left a body of poetry and prose on religious themes.

• Paradise Lost (1667): An epic poem based on the account of the Fall in Genesis 3. It depicts events from the rebellion of Satan to the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden. It was revised into twelve books in 1674. In Book 1, Mammon appears as a fallen angel who, even in heaven, kept his gaze fixed on its golden pavement. He leads the band that digs the gold used to build Pandemonium, the palace of hell. In Book 2, he argues that the fallen angels should not make war on heaven again but should instead establish their own kingdom in hell. This passage is regarded as a classic literary portrayal of Mammon personified.
• Paradise Regained (1671): An epic poem recounting Jesus' victory over Satan's temptations in the wilderness.
• Samson Agonistes (1671): A dramatic poem on the last days of Samson.
• Areopagitica (1644): A prose work defending freedom of the press in opposition to the system of prepublication licensing.
• Divorce tracts (1640s): Writings arguing that incompatibility between husband and wife could be grounds for divorce, which provoked controversy at the time.

Influence on the Korean Church

Paradise Lost has been translated into Korean several times and is read as a classic of Christian literature. Sermons and devotional books in the Korean church often cite his works when explaining the eating of the forbidden fruit, the pride of Satan, and the worship of wealth. The final line of the sonnet he wrote after losing his sight (commonly known as "On His Blindness"), "They also serve who only stand and wait," is quoted in discussions of faith amid suffering. Nevertheless, he is known primarily in the realms of literature and general culture rather than as a direct influence on the theological formation of any particular denomination.

Assessment

Milton is regarded, together with Shakespeare, as one of the most important poets in the history of English literature. His work has also drawn the following criticisms and debates.

• Portrayal of Satan: Some have argued that the Satan of Paradise Lost is portrayed as an attractive, heroic figure. The poet William Blake remarked that Milton was "of the Devil's party without knowing it." By contrast, C. S. Lewis countered that Satan should be read as a figure who progressively degenerates because of his pride.
• Theological views: De Doctrina Christiana, a Latin treatise discovered in 1823 and published in 1825, contains the view that the Son is subordinate to the Father. It also contains the view that at death the soul dies together with the body and that both are raised together at the resurrection. For these reasons, some scholars consider Milton to have departed from orthodox Trinitarian doctrine and to have held views close to Arianism. Other scholars, however, question whether Milton was the author of the treatise or interpret its contents differently.
• View of women: Feminist critics have faulted him for portraying Eve as subordinate to Adam.