Abstract

John Milton believed that he had been specially elected, along with a number of others in his generation, to become a son of God and joint heir of Christ. This belief in elected sonship, a departure from Puritan orthodoxy, was shared by a number of Milton's friends, like Sir Henry Vane, Roger Williams and Isaac Penington, in addition to many of the sectaries and revolutionaries, particularly Seekers, Ranters, Diggers, Quakers and Fifth Monarchists. This dissertation examines the scholarly work which discusses Milton's radical connections. Next it explores the development of the doctrine of elected sonship in the writings of a number of sectaries, including Vane, Williams, William Erbery, John Saltmarsh, Laurence Clarkson, Abiezer Coppe, William Winstanley, William Aspinwall, George Fox and George Bishop, and compares their beliefs to Milton's. Finally, it traces Milton's changing perspective concerning this doctrine throughout the course of his career. During the early 1640s, Milton believed that the entire nation had been elected unto sonship in order to bring the kingdoms of Europe under the sovereignty of King Jesus and usher in the Millennium. With the disillusionment caused by the reception of his divorce tracts, he came to believe that only a saving remnant, a spiritual minority, had been specially chosen of God to become sons and to rule the nation. The Revolution engineered by these chosen sons failed, however, and Milton no longer thought that his generation of sons had been selected to bring about the Millennium. Thus Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes examine the reasons why those elected of God can fail, how they can be certain of their election and the purpose of their vocation, and how, having faltered, they may recover their election as sons and fulfill their calling