Milton and the Idea of the Fall [Paperback]

A reading of Milton's writing on the Fall of man in its theological and historical context.In Paradise Lost (1667), Milton produced the most magnificent poetic account ever written of the biblical Fall of man. In this wide-ranging study, William Poole presents a comprehensive analysis of the origin, evolution, and contemporary discussion of the Fall, and the way seventeenth-century authors, particularly Milton, represented it. Poole distinguishes clearly for the first time the range and complexity of contemporary debates on the Fall of man, and offers many new insights into the originality and sophistication of Milton's work.In Paradise Lost (1667), Milton produced the most magnificent poetic account ever written of the biblical Fall of man. In this wide-ranging study, William Poole presents a comprehensive analysis of the origin, evolution, and contemporary discussion of the Fall, and the way seventeenth-century authors, particularly Milton, represented it. Poole distinguishes clearly for the first time the range and complexity of contemporary debates on the Fall of man, and offers many new insights into the originality and sophistication of Milton's work.John Milton produced the most magnificent poetic account ever written of the biblical Fall of man in Paradise Lost (1667). William Poole presents a comprehensive analysis of the origin, evolution, and contemporary debate on the Fall, and the way seventeenth-century authors, particularly Milton, represented it. Poole first examines the range and depth of early modern thought on the subject, then explains and evaluates the basis of the idea and the intellectual and theological controversies it inspired from early Christian times to Milton's own century.Introduction; Part I. Fallen Culture: 1. The fall; 2. Augustinianism; 3. The quarrel over original sin 164960; 4. The heterodox fall; 5. The fall in practice; Part II. Milton: 6. Towards Paradise Lost; 7. Paradise Lost I: the causality of primal wickedness; 8. Paradil“\