Blending of Renaissance and Reformation in Paradise Lost

John Milton (1608-1674) is a religious person and a god fearing man. He is also a great writer who wrote in a grand style. As a god fearing man, Milton writes his Paradise Lost, on the basis of religion, Bible and as a great writer he advances his writing in a classical manner. The theme of Paradise Lost is Biblical as it shows the wrongdoing of Adam and Eve by the influence of Satan and the justice of God for sinners. Milton writes Paradise Lost in such a style which holds classical flavor. So, Milton shows Biblical theme in classical mood. We can also say that Milton’s mind is shaped and moulded by the influence of the Renaissance and the Reformation. On the one hand, he drank deep of classical poetry and philosophy and is inherited all†¦show more content†¦He chooses a Christian theme for his poem and therefore addresses his prayer to a Christian spirit. For this, in Paradise Lost his invocation is to the Heavenly Muse that inspired Moses on the hidden top of Horeb or Sinai- and it was Moses who taught first the Israelites how first the Heaven or Earth were created out of chaos. This reveals that Milton is a God fearing man and he justifies the ways of God to man. As prophets are inspired by God, he thinks, he also inspired by God, by Christian spirit. So, in the ‘invocation to the Muse’ Milton also shows Biblical theme in classical mood. Stopford A. Brooke observes: â€Å"The form is the epic form of the Greeks and Romans†¦ The filling up of the form is partly invented and partly derived from Scripture. The character and the greater part of the action are invented; but the part derived from the Scripture has a theological system attached to it†¦ This scheme of theology so far as it intrudes, lessens the interest of the poem†¦ but it does not destroy it. And it is not its presence but its presence in an argumentative form which is alien to art. The scheme in itself is abstract and logical and as such repugnant to art. One thing which has grandeur†¦ and which broods over all these parts of the poems is the conception deepest in Puritanism and the source of its power – the overshadowing idea of sovereignty of God.† Milton’s Biblical and classical education combined their influence to make him think of a poet as something more