Nicholas McDowell

In contrast with Gordon Campbell's (John Milton: Life, Work, and Thought) view of Milton as moving from youthful ceremonial Arminianism into Presbyterianism and thence on to radical Arminianism, McDowell sees Milton as emerging from a background of "conforming" Puritanism but even youthfully imbued with a non-Calvinist belief in free will along with a devotion to the ideals of neo-Platonic humanism, which will lead him to his political radicalism of the revolutionary years., thus displaying a greater consistency between his years as a youthful scholar and the pamphleteer of the mid-1640s.

A somewhat "heavy" read because of its rather extensive treatment of the early Latin poetry, which will be less familiar to most readers; but a fair amount of attention is also given to both the well-known Nativity Ode and Lycidas.… (más)