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Schuler SanctificationMiltonsAcademy 2009
Schuler SanctificationMiltonsAcademy 2009
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Stephen J. Schuler
these aims, combining as they do the classical spirit with the Chris
tian, are of the essence of humanistic educational doctrine. They
look, indeed, respectively to the inner and the outer aspects of the
same individual, normally developed. Milton, like other genuine
humanists, cared little for virtue apart from practice, or for talent
without principle. (15)2
Likewise, in 1951 George Sabine maintained that the two purposes are
complementary:
While Sabine did not elaborate on the relationship between the two statements,
Michael Lieb, in a 1985 essay, developed a detailed argument in which he showed
that bodily fitness and the practice of virtue—the moral "fitness" necessary to lead
a household or a nation—are inextricably linked to repairing the ruins ol the Fall:
"Implicit in this postlapsarian view is a process of transformation by which ruins
are repaired and knowledge regained as the soul, possessed of true virtue and
heavenly grace, achieves a fully spiritualized form" (247). For Lieb, as for Ainsworth
and Sabine, Milton's two statements of purpose are complementary. Most recently,
Margaret Olofson Thickstun has argued that Milton's educational philosophy, as
articulated in Paradise Lost, has what she calls "moral adulthood" as its aim, although
she does rely on the implicit assumption that Milton's ultimate pedagogical pur
pose is " 'to repair the ruins of our first parents' " (2).
While some critics see Milton's two purpose statements as unrelated or even
antithetical, I follow Ainsworth, Sabine, Lieb, and Thickstun in arguing that
Milton's first, theological statement of purpose is indeed his ultimate purpose of
education, and I argue further that his second, civic statement of purpose is an
observable consequence of the fulfillment of that initial spiritual goal. Because
many critics have misunderstood this sequential relationship, they have tended to
misapply the principles and curriculum in Of Education to Paradise Lost. Actually, the
two works help to elucidate each other, Of Education setting out the goals that drive
the teaching scenes in Paradise Lost, and Paradise Lost providing working examples
of Milton's educational plan as outlined in the brief prose tract.
Education for Milton was always a purely instrumental good, never something to
be sought for its own sake, but only for the sake of becoming a virtuous and
knowledgeable Christian.
Milton's spiritual goal does suggest that religious studies should be a priority
in his academy, and if Of Education appears to marginalize religious subjects, in
reality the curriculum prioritizes them. First, if students spend most nights and
weekends studying the Bible and theology they will spend almost as much time
studying specifically religious matters as they will spend studying all other subjects
combined. Furthermore, it is anachronistic to presume a clear distinction between
religious and secular course materials in Milton's proposed school. If Milton
believes that his entire curriculum is designed to ultimately fulfill a spiritual goal,
he probably assumes that studying things other than Scriptures and theology will
help students attain that goal. Viswanathan claims that in connecting the study of
the natural world with spiritual formation," [Milton] makes the inexplicable leap of
arguing that mastering these subjects better equips one to contemplate moral good
and evil" (2: 358). But Milton's connection is neither a leap nor inexplicable. For
Milton, not only the Bible, but natural science, mathematics, classical literature,
political philosophy, and rhetoric can lead to "possessing our souls of true vertue"
by teaching truth. Just after he states his spiritual goal for education, Milton says
that "because our understanding cannot in this body found it selfe but on sensible
things, nor arrive so clearly to the knowledge of God and things invisible, as by
orderly conning over the visible and inferior creature, the same method is necessary
to be follow'd in all discreet teaching" (367-69). Thus, a student learns to know
God not just from studying Scriptures and theology, but from studying the physical
world of sensate objects.6 There is no strict division between "secular" and "sacred"
knowledge; in education the most important difference is between what is true and
what is false. Milton relies implicitly on St. Augustine's maxim that "every good and
true Christian should understand that wherever he may find truth, it is his Lord's"
(2.28). If all truth belongs to God, then increasing one's knowledge of any truth,
whether of concrete objects or of ethical principles, will increase one's knowledge
of God.'
Flowever well this process works in theory, putting it into practice involves
certain logistical difficulties. Students might very well increase personal knowledge
of God and thus begin to repair the ruins of the Fall, but it is difficult to
demonstrate that this goal is being achieved in every person in a student body of
130 young men. The problem inherent in any educational goal, and in Milton's
spiritual goal especially, is the difficulty of empirically verifying its fulfillment. An
it is the liberty, Lords and Commons, which your own valorous and
happy counsels have purchast us, liberty which is the nurse of all
great wits; this is that which hath rarify'd and enlightn'd our spirits
like the influence of heav'n; this is that which hath enfranchis'd,
enlarg'd and lifted up our apprehensions degrees above themselves.
(3: 559)
Later he exclaims, "Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely
according to conscience, above all liberties" (3: 560). For Milton, then, part of the
purpose of the state is to provide a safe haven for intellectual liberties, the exercise
of which may gain a person greater knowledge of God, "and out of that knowledge
to love him, to imitate him, to be like him, as we may the neerest by possessing
our souls of true vertue, which being united to the heavenly grace of faith
makes up the highest perfection" (Of Education 2: 367). Thus, the fulfillment
of Milton's practical objective in individual students leads to a political state that
Raphael teaches Adam that God is omniscient and that he has chosen to keep
certain facts inaccessible to human observation, and because of this attribute
Raphael advises Adam not to pry into the unknowable. Later, Raphael explains to
Adam that". . . Heav'n / Is as the Book of God before thee set, / Wherein to read
his wondrous Works, and learne / His Seasons, Hours, or Dayes, or Months, or
Yeares" (8.66-69).
Drawing upon St. Paul's statement in Romans that "ever since the creation of
the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been
understood and seen through the things he has made" (Rom. 1.20), Milton links
this notion with his statement in Of Education that "knowledge of God" can be
gained "by orderly conning over the visible and inferior creature . . (2: 368-69).
Each time Raphael explains a principle of the natural created order, an inference
about God's nature can be made, and a moral action may be deduced from that
inference.
In this case, the lesson Raphael draws out of Adam's uncertainty about
whether the sun orbits the earth or vice versa is that
While Anna Nardo has argued that Raphael "redirects Adam's attention away from
factual knowledge toward an approach to knowledge more suited to human life
. . ." (230), the issue at stake involves a cosmological question beyond the realm of
empirical science.9 As Barbara Lewalski points out, Raphael
Unlike Galileo, Adam has no instruments with which he can verify or falsify
cosmological hypotheses through empirical observation. Thus when Raphael dis
misses Adam's question, he is not denigrating science or knowledge as such, but
rather warning Adam not to indulge in mere hypothesizing. Direct observation
of the physical world may very well lead to knowledge of God, but unverifiable
and abstract speculations, which Raphael calls "Conjecture" and "quaint Opin
ions," are unprofitable for daily life in Eden because they tend to become
detached from direct consideration of the physical world (8.76, 78). Adam is
better off seeking concrete knowledge that directly benefits him in his day-to
day life in the garden. Raphael's admonition is not inconsistent with Milton's
assertion in Of Education that knowledge of God can be gained by examination
of the physical world.
Adam goes through a similar process when he first meets the Father in the
garden. The Father reveals himself to Adam and gives a command all at once:
. . . shun to taste.
(8.316-24, 327)
In this case, God's claim as creator legitimizes his authority to bar Adam from
eating from one tree, so Adam's knowledge of the Father as creator should lead him
to obey the command, which he does for a time. Just as Raphael's instruction
reveals God's nature to Adam and infers an imperative from God's nature, so the
Father reveals his own nature to Adam and implicitly links a command with his
identity as creator.
Employing a similar pedagogical method and interacting with Adam before
the Fall, the Father and Raphael pique Adam's curiosity and lead him to moral
conclusions based on the divine nature. Both use a dialogic method to correct
Adam's erroneous assumptions and hypotheses. For example, when Adam drifts off
to sleep for the first time, he assumes that "1 then was passing to my former state
/ Insensible, and forthwith to dissolve," but when the Father appears to him, he
finds that he is not passing into oblivion but receiving new knowledge of his
surroundings through the Father's guided tour of Eden (8.291-92). Similarly,
Raphael uses Adam's misconception of Eve as the pinnacle of creation to remind
him of the created hierarchy of the sexes. When Adam says of Eve that "Authority
More importantly, like the Father and Raphael, Michael supplies Adam with
knowledge of the Father and uses that information to support a moral imperative.
For instance, when Michael shows Adam the weddings of his descendants, Adam is
By recognizing the divine purpose of his creation and its link to God's nature,
Adam comes to understand the moral imperative to judge all things by God's
criteria, not by a standard of vulgar hedonism. After Michael finishes his
summary of world history, Adam recites what he has learned from Michael. He
has had his
. . . fill
Thus, because he has learned about God's providence and mercy, as well as about
God's desire to use small and weak things to accomplish important purposes, Adam
understands his moral obligation to fear and obey God. He has begun to achieve
the spiritual goal of education and to regain a proper knowledge of God. Michael
commends Adam's understanding, saying
. . . onely add
Deeds to thy knowledge answerable, add Faith,
Add Vertue, Patience, Temperance, add Love,
By name to come call'd Charitie, the soul
Of all the rest: then wilt thou not be loath
To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess
A paradise within thee, happier farr.
(12.581-87)
Michael encourages Adam to continue his pursuit of his spiritual goal by being
sanctified, by developing a life of virtue. As Of Education suggests should happen
to all students, Adam is renewing his knowledge of God and thereby becoming
knowledge of God and a virtuous person, well equipped to fulfill education's
practical objective by effectively executing the office of a patriarch, over both a
house and a lineage.
Paradise Lost illustrates on a grand scale the educational goals and methods that
Milton briefly articulated in Of Education. As long as a student is justified, whether
by nature (Adam and Eve before the Fall) or by faith (Adam and Eve after the Fall),
the methods and purpose for education are the same. Milton imagines education as
a dialogue between a curious student and a wise teacher who is able to instruct the
former in the knowledge of God, knowledge that is found not only in Scriptures
and theological texts, but also in the natural world of sensate objects. Yet exactly
how this curriculum would be executed in seventeenth-century England is a
matter of speculation. Books play a central teaching role, and in as large a school
as Milton envisioned, dialogues between students and books are foundational to
learning. While Thomas Corns calls Milton's curriculum "repressive, prescriptive,
elitist, masculinist, militaristic, dustily pedantic, class-ridden, affectionless" (63),
not all of these epithets are deserved. Elitist, masculinist, and militaristic as it
is—Milton's academy is certainly designed to produce state leaders, though his aim
in producing an educated elite may or may not mandate that the school would
admit students only from the aristocracy. Yet it was natural to assume that the
nation's up-and-coming leaders should be the first to be trained for military and
civil service. In a time of civil war, the necessity of just, skillful, and magnanimous
civil and military leadership must have been acutely felt throughout the nation.
Milton also assumes that his students will be male, though this was a common
assumption in the seventeenth century." And if Paradise Lost reflects any of Milton's
ideas about education, as the majority of critics writing on the subject assume, then
it is clear that both men and women, represented by Adam and Eve respectively,
need an education of some kind. Eve sits in on Raphael's lesson, and even after she
leaves during the discourse on astronomy, she knows that Adam will eventually tell
her everything he has learned. While she will learn from Adam and not from
Raphael himself, the implied hierarchy of the sexes does not necessarily require that
she be deprived of an education that approximates Adam's. To be sure, while Milton
indicates that both Adam and Eve are made in the divine image, he also emphasizes
his superior authority derived from that divine likeness:
Eve is not Adam's equal, at least in authority and proximity to God. But Milton
never shows Adam instructing Eve at length, nor does Milton address the question
of women's education in his tractate, so it is unclear how this social inequality
between the sexes would atfect education in terms of curriculum and pedagogy. If
Milton did have any settled views on this question, they must remain open to
speculation.
University of Mobile
Notes
' For example, Roger Ascham had written earlier in The Schoolmaster that educated men would
"become in the end both most happy for themselves, and always best esteemed abroad in the world,
a statement of purpose that emphasizes social development (101). Johann Amos Comenius, to whom
Milton refers in Of Education, stated, "I aime at three Marks: Piety, Learning, and Civill Prudence" (1
The historical context of Milton's tractate Of Education has been ably traced by several critics, so ther
is no need to replicate it here. William Melczer identifies several sixteenth- and seventeenth-centur
educators who might be compared to Milton, and Donald Dorian's brief introduction to Of Education
in the Complete Prose Works lists several works on education by Milton's contemporaries. Oliver
Ainsworth's comparison of Milton with other sixteenth- and seventeenth-century educational theo
~ Ainsworth further argues that Milton's first stated purpose, "to repair the ruins of our first parents
by regaining to know God aright," is essentially Hebraic, as it presupposes human imperfection and
draws on New Testament theology (43). According to Ainsworth, Milton's second purpose, "that
which fits a man to perform justly, skilfully and magnanimously all the offices both private and
publike of peace and war," comes from the Greek sense of "practical piety," which is derived from
Isocrates (43). While this categorization may be helpful, it should not be maintained absolutely, as if
Hebraic or New Testament theology disregards justice, skill, and magnanimity or as if Greek
philosophy cares nothing for virtue or the knowledge of God. Attribution of Milton's general ideas
to specific cultural sources is not so easy.
3 Mager's contribution to educational objectives was anticipated by other, earlier theorists who had
recognized the need for clear objectives in achievement testing. For instance, in 1934 Ralph W.Tyler
had pointed out the need for a clear sense of purpose in testing student achievement (14-23). But
Mager's 1962 work established the writing of objectives as an integral part of curriculum develop
ment. Different theorists have used slightly different vocabulary for describing what I am calling
"goals" and "objectives," and some theorists occasionally conflate the two. Mager was one of the first
modern educational theorists to articulate a clear distinction between them.
For example, one popular modern textbook on educational assessment distinguishes between "goals,
long-term goals, or general instructional outcomes" and "specific instructional outcomes"; these
"outcomes" correspond to my term "objectives" (Gallagher 109).This text states that"Goals are global
statements of long-term outcomes, and their achievement is not assessed directly. . . . Thus goals do
not deal with definite skills, but related specific outcomes do" (110). Likewise, Milton's educational
goal deals in generalities and abstractions while his educational objective deals with activities that can
be observed and evaluated by an outside agent.
5 There was no standard vocabulary in the seventeenth century for distinguishing between goals and
objectives, though the distinction is related to the question of educational ends and means that can
surely be traced back at least to Plato's Republic, particularly Books 2, 3, and 7. In Of Education, Milton
makes an implicit distinction that educational theorists would not delineate explicitly and systemati
cally until the twentieth century.
6 Milton was not averse to teaching theology per se, but he was an adamant opponent of "the
Scholastick grosness of barbarous ages, that in stead of beginning with Arts most easie, and those be
such as are most obvious to the sence, they present their young unmatriculated novices at first coming
with the most intellective abstractions of Logick & metaphysicks" (Of Education 2: 374). In Milton's
scheme, theology would be taught, but not as a subject for exercises in disputation.
7 Certainly there are passages in Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained that appear to question this
view—Raphael, Michael, and Jesus all warn against knowledge pursued for the sake of power or mere
curiosity. For a detailed account of how these warnings relate to Of Education, see Samuel.
S Milton suggests that the school grounds should be "big enough to lodge a hundred and fifty persons,
whereof twenty or thereabout may be attendants, all under the government of one" (2: 379-80).
9 Milton himself was in the same situation as Adam. In the 1660s and 1670s, Galileo's astronomical
theories were still new and tentative. Angelica Duran has recently noted that while Galileo was able
to make a functional telescope in the early seventeenth century, it was not until quite late in the
century that Isaac Newton developed a working telescope in England with which it was possible to
duplicate some of Galileo's observations (4). Although Milton was well aware of the new astronomy,
he may not have wanted to commit himself to a theory that might yet be disproved. If so, Milton is
not casting doubt on science as a whole, but is rather demonstrating caution by refusing to endorse
unverified theories in his epic.
10 The difference between Adam's mental capacity before and after the Fall is a topic too large to be
dealt with here, but it appears that while his reasoning, and especially his moral reasoning, is impaired
by his sinful state, he is still capable of some of the same rational inquiry that he was able to sustain
at greater length before his fall. Dayton Haskin makes a similar point when he argues that complexity
11 Comenius was one of Milton's few contemporaries who proposed universal education. At the time,
equal education, much less coeducation, was a radical idea. As educational practice and theory evolved
in the subsequent centuries, it gradually became clear that the educational schemes developed for
male students worked equally well for female students.
1-J. R. Brink argues that Milton values originality and creativity, citing his insistence that student
essays be written from an informed position (263-64). Brink's brief essay cites Milton as an early
example of an educational theorist who valued creativity in students.
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