Milton`s Theology : Paradise Lost를 중심으로

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

For the examination of the idea of predestination end free-will expressed in the poem, we need to know the concept of foreknowledge which is part of Arminianism. Paradoxical as it may sound, according to Milton, even though free-will of mankind belongs to the domain of God's foreknowledge, the free-will of the individual person is not constrained or restrained solely by God's foreknowledge. Furthermore, unlike the predestination doctrine held by Calvin and Augustine who insisted men should be already predestinated into two groups, namely of election and reprobation. Milton's view of predestination, similar to those of Thomas Acquinas and Luther, is to stress that the salvation of men depends on the "unmerited grace" of God, and that the divine reprobation must be imputed to the sin committed by men. Milton, unlike Calvin's view (even if some partial similarities are recognized), thinks that the doctrine to separate men's future destiny into two parts, namely election and reprobation, is far from faithful to the idea expressed in the Bible. Accordingly, the predestination referred to in Paradise Lost should be interpreted as the eternal salvation, not the reprobation.
With regard to the justice revealed in Paradise Lost Milton thinks that since all creatures are created by the righteous creator, they are fundamentally just and complete. And God gives men a light of reason, namely a judging power, as a principle of guidance and declares that conscience can take the place of the judging power. Accordingly, if men make a good use of this conscience, that is, they obey God, they can be justified by God and lead a happy life. However, if they do the reverse, they cannot be exempted from the condemnation by God. In this respect, Milton expresses the unavoidable fate that death will be caused by injustice, which is man's disobedience to God. Then, who will atone for the death of mankind and save them? That is possible only by God's grace, the love of God, who forgives all sinners and saves them through a substitutionary atonement of his own son. Such a grace is a communicable attribute of God, and it is the evidence of God's love for the sinners and sufferers.
The grace of salvation is called a special favor. It means a selective favor which renews and justifies only the regenerated beings. Such a grace is given to the elect chosen by God through Christ and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, this grace can be said to be given unconditionally to those who have been justified by believing in Christ. While Douglas Bush says that this "Lord, the Saviour" is a representative of divine love and beauty, Milton sings Christ as an incarnation of "love without end", "immortal love", and "divine love".
Consequently, the grace of salvation rather frees men from the labyrinthine misuse of their free-wills. The natural man tends to alienate himself from the true wisdom of human life through abusing his own free will, and takes to sin and fall into the pit of eternal death. However, when favored with Christ, he will be saved from the miserable state in the lost paradise and light in the regained paradise.