Yet, it was in this period of blindness and political defeat that he produced his greatest theological and literary works, including *Paradise Lost*, *Paradise Regained*, and *Samson Agonistes*. This skepticism was not mere rebellion; it was a reasoned theological stance aligned with the Puritan emphasis on *sola scriptura* (scripture alone) and the direct relationship between the individual believer and God.
Milton's Tenure and the Theological Case for Kings and Magistrates
For Milton, the regicide was a grim but necessary act of religious and political purification, a violent but divinely sanctioned means to establish a godly commonwealth. While intellectually engaged with the complex Calvinist doctrine of predestination—the idea that God has eternally chosen who will be saved—Milton’s emphasis on moral responsibility and the necessity of a virtuous life suggests a tension between divine sovereignty and human free will that he never fully resolved but continually explored.
A staunch supporter of the Parliamentarian cause, he viewed the conflict not merely as a political struggle but as a divine reckoning against tyranny. His writings, most notably *The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates*, argued that the people had the right to overthrow a ruler who had broken his covenant with God and the nation.
Milton's Tenure of Kings and Magistrates: Biblical Authority and the Right to Overthrow Tyranny
This conviction was intertwined with his understanding of scripture as the ultimate authority. Core Tenets: Scripture, Liberty, and Predestination At the heart of Milton’s theology lay a fierce commitment to individual conscience and religious liberty, principles he articulated with remarkable clarity in works like *Areopagitica*.
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