"Milton’s Pauline Universalism: Race and Religion in Early Modern England”
Joshua R. Held, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of English, Southeastern Oklahoma State University
"This paper introduces a study of Milton’s appropriation of Paul in Paradise Lost in order to uncover the universal inheritance of all people from Adam and Eve, the original human parents as that poem conceives them. Paul explains the “one blood” (Acts 17:26) of all human beings, and Milton reflects this thinking at various points. Milton often suggests the wide scope of a Pauline view by conjoining it with other classical texts, often Virgil but also Lucretius, Lucan, or Seneca. Since these writers were also sources or literary backgrounds for Paul, Milton offers a clearing-house for the religious and literary material that derives from a combination of these classical authors. This book uses Paul and Milton as hubs that serve a still larger network, extending back to antiquity and forward to modernity. These hubs support a theory of universal human participation in several areas, from ancestry to exile, and from loss to consolation."
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This event is free, but all participants must register in advance. Space is limited, so please do not request a paper unless you plan to attend.
Register and Request PaperAbout the Milton Seminar
This Center of Renaissance Studies seminar brings together interested scholars to read and discuss pre-circulated papers on aspects of Milton studies.
The Newberry’s Milton Seminar is organized by Stephen Fallon (University of Notre Dame), Christopher Kendrick (Loyola University Chicago), Paula McQuade (DePaul University), and Regina Schwartz (Northwestern University).