Abstracts
Abstract
Recent scholarship that either challenges Milton’s authorship of De Doctrina Christiana or argues that De Doctrina Christiana is Miltonic but should not be used as a gloss upon Paradise Lost opens up the possibility to interpret Milton’s epic without deference to the Antitrinitarian treatise. A close textual analysis of Adam’s interaction with the Presence Divine in Paradise Lost 8.295–499 reveals, first, that the Presence Divine, contrary to the prevailing view of Milton scholarship, is the Son of God as opposed to God the Father. Moreover, Milton’s presentation of the Presence Divine is strikingly Trinitarian—in tension with De Doctrina Christiana and contrary to the received interpretation in Milton scholarship—and notably consistent with orthodox Trinitarian writings concerning the Son of God throughout church history, particularly orthodox reformed writings from the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries.
Keywords:
- Milton,
- Paradise Lost,
- God,
- Son of God,
- Arian,
- Orthodox,
- Trinitiarian,
- De Doctrina Christiana,
- Presence Divine
Résumé
Les travaux récents qui remettent en question l’attribution à Milton du De Doctrina Christiana ou qui affirment que cette oeuvre, bien qu’écrite par Milton, ne doit pas orienter la lecture du Paradis perdu, invitent à interpréter l’épopée miltonienne indépendamment de cet écrit antitrinitaire. Une analyse textuelle approfondie de l’interaction entre Adam et la Présence divine dans Le Paradis perdu (8, 295-499) révèle tout d’abord que la Présence divine, contrairement à l’opinion dominante des spécialistes de Milton, est le Fils de Dieu et non Dieu le Père. De plus, la Présence divine prend chez Milton un aspect résolument trinitaire, qui se trouve en tension avec le De Doctrina Christiana et s’oppose à l’interprétation établie dans les études miltoniennes. Cette représentation est particulièrement conforme aux écrits trinitaires orthodoxes sur le Fils de Dieu à travers l’histoire de l’Église, en particulier les écrits réformés orthodoxes des seizième, dix-septième et dix-huitième siècles.
Mots-clés :
- Milton,
- Le Paradis perdu,
- Dieu,
- Fils de Dieu,
- Arianisme,
- Orthodoxe,
- Trinitarisme,
- De Doctrina Christiana,
- Présence Divine
Appendices
Bibliography
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