Spiritual Architecture and Paradise Regained: Milton’s Literary Ecclesiology by Ken Simpson (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 717 significance is tied up with his historical milieu and the works (literary, theological, and political) that he produced also seems to be a little wary of participating in some of the more current critical discourses that seek to identify Milton's continuing relevance for the twenty-first century reader-his relation, for example, to the politically resonant topics of "toleration;' "nationalism;' "colonialism and imperialism;' etc. Finally, even if one finds Shawcross' thesis statement-that people cannot help but change aspects of belief, understanding, and convictions over the course of their lives-to be Simply too obvious, it nevertheless does succeed in cautioning us against losing our critical alertness when reading and interpreting (possible) layerings in the textual representations ofsuch politically charged topics as Milton's republicanism, his "Arianism,' his understanding ofgender relations, etc. Shawcross' time- and chronology-sensitive approach to critical interpretation of Milton's writings is consistent with the premise of a book that seeks to reconstruct Milton the man in the light of the precise details available on and known about his life. In his privileging of the biographical focus, Shawcross appears to be less sympathetic toward critical readings interested in how Milton's political and theological ideas may carry cultural significance and relevance for understanding the post 9-11 world and age of globalization in which we live. The Development of Milton's Thought is a valuable book, functioning as an important resource of information on a wide range of topics relevant to Milton studies today. There is something in this richly informed study for everyone-the historian of Milton's republicanism; the reader of his theology; the feminist critic of his patriarchalism. In addition to the scholar of Milton, Shawcross' study will also be of deep interest to cultural critics, church historians, and the general reader of seventeenth-century English history, politics, literature, and culture. Walter S. H. Lim National University ofSingapore Spiritual Architecture and Paradise Regained: Milton's Literary Ecclesiology. By Ken Simpson. Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press, 2007. ISBN 0-8207-0391-5. Pp. xiii + 256. $58.00 The title of Ken Simpson's book suggests a focus on Milton's Paradise Regained, which is somewhat misleading, as Simpson draws upon the briefepic to develop his theory ofMilton's literary ecdesiology but concentrates on the theological elements of that theory, while also substantiating Milton's ecdesiology through reference to his prose. Simpson's text should therefore interest students of seventeenth-century theology as well as those interested in Milton's poetry. Simpson studies Milton's 718 CHRISTIANITY AND LITERATURE understanding of the role of the poet within the invisible church, the qualities and characteristics of that church and the ways in which language generally and rhetoric specifically generate spiritual authority. At the center of Simpson's book, then, is Milton's presentation of the Word and the ways in which Milton employs the Word within his works. Simpson begins in his preface by situating Milton's theology of the church within the humanist traditions of the period, emphasizing the literary, textual and rhetorical qualities of Milton's ecclesiology. His first chapter links speech, words, writing and the Word, arguing that Milton perceives the Christian church as rhetorically generated. It also examines Milton's antitrinitarianism within the specificcontext of the Son as Word (sermo,not verbum) and the Spirit as that which brings together Word and Author in the understanding of the believer / reader. The second chapter draws upon the dynamic between speech and silence in Paradise Regainedto argue that the hermeneutic conflict within that poem exemplifies and reflects the ways in which the Word speaks to the faithful. Satan's temptations function on an exegetical level, and Satan's speech is silenced because it reflects an absence of the Word. Simpson's third chapter focuses on writing and on Milton's view of the ministry. Simpson argues that Milton sees all believers as potential ministers within the Christian community, locating poetry as an expression of the prophetic office. Milton himself, then, isa prophet, and his poetry assumes authority in equal measure to its source of inspiration, the Word which generates his words. Simpson carefully and comprehensively examines the parameters of this prophetic...