The Weapons of the “True Warfaring Christian”
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THE WEAPONS OF THE “TRUE WARFARING CHRISTIAN”: RIGHT REASON AND FREE WILL IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY LITERATURE A Dissertation by NANCY ROCHELLE BRADLEY Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 2009 Major Subject: English THE WEAPONS OF THE “TRUE WARFARING CHRISTIAN”: RIGHT REASON AND FREE WILL IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY LITERATURE A Dissertation by NANCY ROCHELLE BRADLEY Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved by: Chair of Committee, Paul A. Parrish Committee Members, Margaret M. Ezell Patricia Phillippy Stephen Daniel Head of Department, M. Jimmie Killingsworth August 2009 Major Subject: English iii ABSTRACT The Weapons of the “True Warfaring Christian”: Right Reason and Free Will in Seventeenth-Century Literature. (August 2009) Nancy Rochelle Bradley, B.A., Sam Houston State University; M.A., Pennsylvania State University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Paul A. Parrish Milton writes in Areopagitica of the “true warfaring Christian” who can “apprehend and consider vice with all her baits and seeming pleasures, and yet abstain, and yet distinguish, and yet prefer that which is truly better.” Though many reformers saw both human nature and the faculty of reason as depraved after the fall, Milton and other radical writers in the period emphasized the role that reason can and should play in the experience of spiritual warfare. The dissertation therefore begins by considering the theological contexts within which writers of the English Reformation understood evil and human encounters with evil, especially in the form of temptations, but also in the form of disturbing dreams and satanic presences. It then considers some epistemological problems as related to the experience of such conflicts: reason, especially right reason; knowledge, conscience and memory; and free will. Focusing on the texts of John Milton, Aemilia Lanyer, Richard Norwood, and John Bunyan, this study shows that these radical religious writers refuse to conform to the general tendency in Reformation theology to discount the use of reason. Eve‟s iv dream in Milton‟s Paradise Lost reveals the proper use of right reason in spiritual warfare, while the actual temptation scenes in Paradise Lost and Lanyer‟s Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum point to a fundamental failure of reason in the fall. Norwood‟s Confessions, Milton‟s Comus, and Milton‟s Samson Agonistes portray the triumphs of human reason over evil and temptation, though there remains an awareness of the constraints placed upon reason by their fallen nature such that reason needs the aid of divine grace to function as right reason. Milton‟s Paradise Regained and Bunyan‟s Pilgrim’s Progress point to the extraordinary victories gained by Christ and Christian through the use of right reason and memory to direct the will toward the highest goods. These texts offer a counter-voice to those who would dismiss the possibilities of the powers of right reason. Despite the awareness of the inherent limits of fallen reason, these radical reformists generally find reason an indispensable tool in spiritual battles that helps direct their wills to the highest good. v To my father, Rev. Michael Proctor, who encouraged my love of theology vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Paul Parrish, for his guidance, support, and patience throughout the course of my research. Thanks also to my committee members, Dr. Margaret Ezell, Dr. Patricia Phillippy, and Dr. Stephen Daniel, for their invaluable feedback on my work. I would also like to thank my friends, colleagues, and faculty in the Department of English for making my time at Texas A&M University a wonderful experience of learning and growth. Thanks to my dear friends whose encouragement and support were priceless as they cheered me on. Finally, thanks to my family for their endless encouragement, and to my husband and children for their love and patience. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. iii DEDICATION .......................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... vii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 1 II THEOLOGICAL CONTEXTS: THE PROBLEMS OF EVIL, SPIRITUAL WARFARE, AND THE USE OF REASON .................. 12 The Problems of Evil and Spiritual Warfare .................................. 13 Reason, Knowledge, and Will ........................................................ 36 Effects of Original Sin: The Limits of Reason and the Work of Memory .......................................................................................... 45 Reason in the Reformation ............................................................. 52 III THE FIRST TEMPTATION: THE ABUSE AND FAILURE OF REASON .............................................................................................. 61 “Nor can I like / This uncouth dream”: Eve‟s Satanic Dream ....... 63 “What Weaknesse offerd, Strength might have refusde”: An Apology for Eve‟s Fall ............................................................. 82 “Perswasive words, impregn‟d / With Reason”: The Temptation and the Fall in Paradise Lost ............................... 93 IV AFTER THE FALL: REASON INFORMED BY GRACE ................ 130 “Wrestl[ing] with the Devil by Night: Norwood‟s Demonic Dreams ......................................................... 132 “Surpriz‟d by unjust force, but not enthralled‟: The Lady‟s Encounter with Comus ................................................ 148 “The tumors of a troubl‟d mind” Samson‟s Battles Within ............ 164 viii CHAPTER Page V THE HEIGHTS OF HUMAN REASON .............................................. 202 “To vanquish by wisdom hellish wiles”: The Son‟s Victory over Satan ........................................................ 204 “Take heed that thou turn not aside again”: Christian‟s Progress to the Celestial City ....................................... 247 VI CONCLUSION .................................................................................... 274 WORKS CITED ........................................................................................................ 278 VITA ......................................................................................................................... 288 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION In the Judeo-Christian tradition, spiritual warfare is evident from the earliest records of that tradition—the Hebrew Bible accounts of the fall of Adam and Eve, the trials of Job, the weakening of Samson; the New Testament accounts of the temptation and crucifixion of Jesus, the doubts of the disciples, and the persecution of early Christian communities. But accounts of spiritual warfare have not been limited to sacred texts. Priests, theologians, preachers, hagiographers, and laypersons since the advent of Christianity have been aware of the reality of spiritual warfare in the day-to-day lives of Christians.1 With the Reformation, however, new dynamics of spiritual warfare were introduced. Many of the reformers‟ revolts against the Catholic Church were perceived as having spiritual implications for both the individual believer and the entire body of Christian believers. But aside from the obvious struggle between Catholic and reformer, the discourse even within the ranks of the reformers recommended a realization that no This dissertation follows the style of Modern Language Association. 1 As I argue here, it is remarkable that some of the greatest and most complex literature of all time, poetry in particular, and especially Milton‟s, has gone unappreciated as literature foundational to the topic of spiritual warfare, even though there is no shortage of rather prosaic and popular literature that touches upon the issue even in our own time. Such an interest and concern for spiritual warfare is not irrelevant to modern Christians. A quick search for books on “spiritual warfare” on amazon.com revealed 10,922 items on 21 June 2009, including such titles as T. D. Jakes‟ Overcoming the Enemy: The Spiritual Warfare of the Believer (2003), Beth Moore‟s Praying God’s Word: Breaking Free from Spiritual Strongholds (2000), Pat Hulsey and Ray Beeson‟s Strategic Spiritual Warfare (2006), Cindy Trimm‟s The Rules of Engagement: The Art of Strategic Power and Spiritual Warfare (2005), and Richard Ing‟s Spiritual Warfare (2006), where he “shows you all of the techniques available to you in your full arsenal of weapons” (synopsis). 2 matter what became of Rome, the individual Christian would be in a fight for his or her soul on many fronts. Milton therefore writes in Areopagitica of the “true warfaring Christian,” whom he describes as that Christian who “can apprehend and consider vice with all her baits and seeming pleasures, and yet abstain, and yet distinguish, and yet prefer that which is truly better” (1006). In Areopagitica, Milton is fighting in particular against the position of his fellow Puritan believers who sought to suppress the promulgation of dissenting religious views