In this Book
- Theological Milton: Deity, Discourse and Heresy in the Miltonic Canon
- Book
- 2006
- Published by: Duquesne University Press
summary
In lively, forceful, and at times witty language, Michael Lieb has written an illuminating study of the figure of God as a literary character in the writings of John Milton. Milton’s God has always been a provocative and controversial figure, and Lieb offers a fresh way to look at the relationship between the language of theology and the language of poetry in Milton’s works. He draws into the discussion previous authors on the subject—Patrides, Hunter, Kelley, Empson, Danielson, Rumrich, and others—resulting in a dynamic debate about Milton’s multifarious God. By stressing God’s multivalent qualities, Theological Milton offers an innovative perspective on the darker side of the divinity. Lieb allows us to see a Miltonic God of hate as well as a God of love, a God who is a creator as well as a destroyer. Lieb directly confronts the more troubling faces of God in a manner richly informed by Milton’s own theology. Against the theoretical framework for the idea of addressing God as a distinctly literary figure, Lieb presents Milton in the historical milieu prior to and contemporaneous with his works. More cogently than others, Lieb clarifies Milton’s theology of the godhead and the various heresies, such as Socinianism and Arianism, that informed the religious controversies of the seventeenth century. He does so in a manner that exemplifies how literature and theology are inextricably intertwined.
Table of Contents
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- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- pp. ix-x
- NOTES ON CITATIONS
- p. xi
- INTRODUCTION
- pp. 1-12
- Part I: The Discourse of Theology
- TWO. The Ontological Imperative
- pp. 51-86
- THREE. The Signatures of Deity
- pp. 87-124
- Part II: The Poetics of Deity
- FOUR. The Theopathetic Deity
- pp. 127-162
- FIVE. The Odium Dei
- pp. 163-183
- SIX. “Our Living Dread”
- pp. 184-210
- Part III: The Heresies of Godhead
- SEVEN. The Socinian Imperative
- pp. 213-260
- EIGHT. Arianism and Godhead
- pp. 261-278
Additional Information
ISBN
9780820705149
Related ISBN(s)
9780820703749
MARC Record
OCLC
794700844
Pages
359
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No