Examining Milton’s Engagement with Skepticism and Doubt in Paradise Lost
Author: Martin Munyao Muinde
Email: Ephantusmartin@gmail.com
Date: October 21, 2025
Introduction
John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667) stands as one of the most intellectually ambitious and theologically complex works in English literature. This epic poem, which seeks to “justify the ways of God to men” (Book I, line 26), paradoxically engages with profound skepticism and religious doubt even as it attempts to vindicate divine providence. Milton’s treatment of theological skepticism in Paradise Lost represents a fascinating intersection of literary artistry and philosophical inquiry, revealing tensions between orthodox Christian doctrine and the poet’s more heterodox theological positions. This paper examines how Milton incorporates skepticism and doubt into the narrative structure, characterization, and theological framework of Paradise Lost, demonstrating that the poem’s greatness derives not from resolving these tensions but from dramatizing them with unprecedented intellectual honesty and emotional depth.
The concept of skepticism in Paradise Lost operates on multiple levels: epistemological doubt about the nature of knowledge and truth, theological questioning regarding divine justice and predestination, and moral uncertainty about the consequences of human choice. Through his engagement with these forms of doubt, Milton creates a work that continues to generate critical controversy and scholarly debate centuries after its composition. Understanding Milton’s relationship with skepticism is essential for undergraduate students and scholars alike, as it illuminates both the historical context of seventeenth-century religious thought and the enduring relevance of the poem’s philosophical questions.
Historical and Theological Context of Doubt in Milton’s Era
To fully appreciate Milton’s engagement with skepticism in Paradise Lost, one must first understand the tumultuous religious and political climate of seventeenth-century England. Milton’s contemporaries largely criticized his ideas and considered him a radical, mostly because of his republican political views and heterodox theological opinions. The English Civil War, the execution of King Charles I, and the subsequent Commonwealth period under Oliver Cromwell created an environment where traditional religious authorities were questioned and diverse theological perspectives flourished. Milton himself served as a civil servant for the Commonwealth government and wrote extensively on religious and political topics, including controversial treatises on divorce and freedom of the press.
Milton’s prose tract De Doctrina Christiana, begun only a few years before he started Paradise Lost, addressed contentious theological topics including predestination, one of the most controversial subjects of post-Reformation debate. In this work, Milton demonstrated his willingness to challenge orthodox positions, particularly regarding the nature of God’s foreknowledge and human free will. This theological background is crucial for understanding how skepticism functions within Paradise Lost. Milton was not merely presenting received doctrine but actively engaging with—and sometimes departing from—traditional Christian theology. His blindness, which he suffered before composing the epic, adds another dimension to his relationship with doubt, as he literally could not see the world he was describing and had to rely on memory, learning, and what he believed to be divine inspiration.
The Protestant Reformation had already established a precedent for questioning religious authority, and Milton pushed this questioning impulse to its limits. Religious satire and polemic constitute an elusive presence in Paradise Lost, as the poem takes on new meaning when understood as part of a strategy of protest against ecclesiastical formalism and clericalism. This context helps explain why Milton’s God has often troubled readers and critics: the poet was deliberately engaging with difficult theological questions rather than offering simple, comforting answers. The poem emerges from a period when faith itself was being rigorously examined and when the nature of religious truth was hotly contested across Europe.
The Problem of Divine Justice and Theodicy
One of the most significant areas where skepticism manifests in Paradise Lost concerns the problem of theodicy—the attempt to reconcile the existence of evil and suffering with belief in an omnipotent, benevolent God. Milton’s stated purpose is to “justify the ways of God to men,” yet this very objective acknowledges an underlying skepticism: why do God’s ways require justification? Milton’s idea of justification involves showing the justice that underlies divine action, not proving that God’s actions are proper in a modern sense. The poet sets himself the ambitious task of demonstrating that divine providence operates according to principles of justice that humans can comprehend, even if they cannot fully understand God’s ultimate purposes.
Milton criticism has been divided on whether the portrayal of God in Paradise Lost offers rational creatures enough knowledge to allow good choices, with critics like C.S. Lewis acknowledging discomfort with Milton’s deity while defending the poem as Christian apologetics, and William Empson arguing that Milton’s God appears tyrannical. This critical controversy itself reflects the skepticism embedded within the text. God’s characterization in Paradise Lost presents numerous challenges: He appears to foreknow the Fall yet creates Adam and Eve anyway; He insists on human free will while the narrative suggests predetermination; He claims justice while His punishments seem disproportionate. These apparent contradictions have led some critics to view Milton’s God as morally problematic, while others argue that Milton successfully navigates these theological difficulties.
The felix culpa or “fortunate fall” doctrine adds another layer of complexity to Milton’s theodicy. The concept is paradoxical in nature as it looks at the fortunate consequences of an unfortunate event, which would never have been possible without the unfortunate event in the first place. In Book 12 of Paradise Lost, Adam proclaims that the good resulting from the Fall is “more wonderful” than the goodness in creation, exclaiming about how evil shall produce good. This theological position raises troubling questions: If the Fall ultimately produces greater good than unfallen existence, was God’s original creation imperfect? Did God deliberately allow or even plan for sin to enter the world? These questions reveal Milton’s willingness to explore the most challenging aspects of Christian theology, even when they lead to paradoxes that resist easy resolution.
Characterization of God and the Problem of Divine Authority
Perhaps nowhere is Milton’s engagement with skepticism more evident than in his characterization of the deity. William Empson contended that the characterizations of God and Satan were either a deliberate anticipation of agnostic doubt or a genuine reflection of Milton’s troubled state of mind, arguing that “the poem is not good in spite of but especially because of its moral confusions”. This perspective, while controversial, highlights how Milton’s literary choices opened space for skeptical readings of the text. Unlike the ineffable, mysterious God of mystical theology, Milton’s God speaks directly, offers justifications for His actions, and engages in what sometimes appears as defensive rhetoric.
William Empson argued that Milton makes God complicit in wickedness because “Milton steadily drives home that the inmost counsel of God was the Fortunate Fall of man; however wicked Satan’s plan may be, it is God’s plan too since God in Paradise Lost is depicted as both omniscient and omnipotent”. This reading, though rejected by orthodox defenders of Milton like C.S. Lewis and Dennis Danielson, identifies a genuine tension in the poem. If God truly possesses perfect foreknowledge, His claims that Adam and Eve freely chose to sin become philosophically problematic. The theological point is tricky because God being God knows what Man will do because of free will, yet God says repeatedly that Man has free will and that God is not the cause of yielding to temptation; He simply knows it will occur.
Milton attempts to resolve this paradox through careful theological argumentation within the poem itself. God repeatedly insists that His foreknowledge does not cause human action, that Adam and Eve possess genuine autonomy, and that they could have resisted temptation. However, the dramatic structure of the epic sometimes undercuts these claims. The narrative presents events as though they must unfold exactly as they do, creating a tension between the theological assertion of free will and the literary impression of inevitability. This tension reflects genuine philosophical problems that Milton could not fully resolve—problems that continue to trouble theologians and philosophers today.
Empson suggested that Milton was struggling to defend God, noting that in De Doctrina Christiana Milton addressed opponents who believed God caused evil, which would practically make God the Devil, and that Milton’s chief new defense was that God intends to resign His rule as soon as a workable alternative has been prepared. This reading emphasizes Milton’s awareness of the moral difficulties inherent in traditional concepts of divine sovereignty. Whether or not one accepts Empson’s interpretation, it reveals how Paradise Lost engages with profound skepticism about divine justice even as it claims to vindicate that justice.
Satan as Embodiment of Skepticism and Doubt
Satan functions as the primary agent of skepticism and doubt within Paradise Lost, both in his own consciousness and in the doubts he instills in others. From his first appearance in Hell, Satan questions divine authority, challenges the justice of his punishment, and articulates a philosophy of resistance that has made him, to many readers, the most compelling character in the poem. Satan’s famous declaration “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven” stems from his pride and envy, yet Romanticist critics including William Blake, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and William Hazlitt interpreted Satan as a heroic figure in Paradise Lost.
This Romantic reading of Satan as hero—what William Blake called Milton being “of the Devil’s party without knowing it”—reveals how the poem’s engagement with skepticism extends beyond conscious authorial intention. Milton clearly intends Satan to represent evil, yet he endows his adversary with eloquence, courage, and philosophical depth that can overshadow the poem’s ostensibly virtuous characters. This ambiguity is not a flaw but rather a testament to Milton’s intellectual honesty. Milton was a lifelong arguer and controversialist, and Paradise Lost consists mostly of dialogue devoted to argumentation, with Empson suggesting it unlikely that Milton hadn’t considered every argument about every aspect of Christianity.
Satan’s skepticism manifests in several forms throughout the epic. First, he doubts God’s right to rule, questioning the legitimacy of divine monarchy and arguing for meritocracy or even democracy among the angels. Second, he doubts the finality of his defeat, constantly scheming for ways to continue resistance despite overwhelming evidence of God’s superior power. Third, and most significantly for the poem’s human drama, he introduces Eve to epistemological doubt—questioning whether God has told her the truth about the forbidden fruit and suggesting that knowledge has been deliberately withheld to maintain divine power over humanity.
The temptation scene in the Garden of Eden represents the most elaborate dramatization of doubt in the poem. Satan, disguised as a serpent, employs sophisticated rhetorical strategies to undermine Eve’s confidence in divine command. He suggests that God’s prohibition stems from jealousy rather than benevolence, that the threat of death was either a lie or a misunderstanding, and that eating the fruit will elevate humans to divine status rather than destroy them. These arguments work because they exploit genuine uncertainties: Eve has never experienced death and thus cannot fully understand the threat; she has been told she is made in God’s image yet clearly lacks divine attributes; and the tree itself is beautiful and desirable, apparently good rather than evil.
Eve’s Doubt and the Question of Knowledge
Eve’s decision to eat the forbidden fruit represents the culmination of skeptical questioning in Paradise Lost. Her temptation involves not merely appetite but intellectual doubt—uncertainty about the reliability of divine command, the nature of knowledge itself, and her own judgment. Milton presents Eve’s fall with remarkable psychological complexity, showing how doubt can erode even deeply held convictions when subjected to persuasive rhetoric and seemingly rational argumentation.
Milton is ambiguous about whether knowledge—the most obvious acquisition from eating from the Tree of Knowledge—is a benefit or detriment to man, as the tree is forbidden not because knowledge is injurious but as “the only sign of our obedience left among so many signs of power and rule”. This creates a profound paradox: the Fall introduces humanity to knowledge that seems valuable and necessary for moral development, yet this knowledge comes through an act of disobedience. Eve’s experience after eating the fruit initially seems to confirm Satan’s promises—she feels enlightened and empowered rather than cursed. Only gradually do the negative consequences become apparent.
The poem thus engages with epistemological skepticism—doubt about what can be known and how knowledge should be acquired. Before the Fall, Adam and Eve possess considerable knowledge through direct divine instruction and communication with angels. However, they lack experiential knowledge of evil, having never personally encountered or practiced sin. Good can only be defined by what it is not; it is impossible to know good without knowing evil because, on its own, good is a meaningless term, and Adam and Eve know evil before the Fall through the example of Satan’s pride but lack the experience of evil within themselves. This raises a troubling question: Is experiential knowledge of evil necessary for true moral understanding? If so, was the Fall perhaps necessary or even inevitable?
Milton does not provide simple answers to these questions. Instead, he dramatizes the complexity of human moral psychology, showing how doubt can lead to both devastating error and increased understanding. Eve’s intellectual curiosity is not presented as purely negative—in fact, curiosity and the desire for knowledge are generally positive traits. The problem lies in the method of acquisition (disobedience) and the motivation (pride, distrust of God). Yet even this moral clarity becomes complicated when readers consider that God created Eve with curiosity and placed the tempting tree in her path.
Adam’s Doubt and the Complexity of Love
Adam’s fall involves a different form of doubt—not skepticism about God’s truthfulness but uncertainty about the right course of action when faced with an impossible choice. When Eve returns to him having already eaten the fruit, Adam confronts a dilemma: should he maintain his obedience to God and be separated from Eve, or should he join her in disobedience out of love? His decision to eat the fruit stems from emotional rather than intellectual doubt, yet it involves genuine moral uncertainty.
Milton portrays Adam as more intellectually sophisticated than Eve, better able to resist Satan’s sophistries, yet he falls nonetheless through what might be called an excess of love. This complicates any simple moral reading of the Fall. Adam’s sin is not intellectual pride or distrust of God but an intense attachment to his companion that overrides his rational judgment. The poem suggests that even positive human qualities—love, loyalty, devotion—can lead to catastrophic error when not properly ordered. This creates skepticism about the reliability of human moral judgment: if even love can lead us astray, what can we trust?
After the Fall, both Adam and Eve experience profound doubt and confusion. They turn on each other, questioning their relationship and their judgment. Adam and Eve find themselves in a world of shame and evil, blaming each other for their condition, as Sin and Death subsequently enter the world. This period of mutual recrimination represents the darkest moment in the poem, where doubt about divine providence combines with doubt about each other and themselves. The restoration of their relationship and their eventual repentance requires working through these doubts to reach a place of humble acceptance and renewed faith.
Critical Reception and the Persistence of Interpretive Doubt
The critical history of Paradise Lost itself demonstrates how the poem’s engagement with skepticism continues to generate interpretive controversy. Throughout history, Paradise Lost has evoked diverse critical responses, from Romantic admiration to modernist skepticism, with figures like F.R. Leavis and T.S. Eliot questioning its consistency. The immutable doctrine of scripture sits uneasily with the disorienting complexities of literary writing, and Milton may have dramatized Genesis to throw into the foreground the very human tendencies of skepticism and self-doubt that exist only in the margins of conventional religious and philosophic thought.
The New Milton Criticism takes Empson’s side and opposes C.S. Lewis because they believe Lewis deliberately overlooked Milton’s heresies to pass Milton off as a great Christian poet like Dante, arguing instead that Milton challenged politico-religious norms and that the poem invites reading for its contradictions, uncertainties, and inconsistencies, which mirror Milton’s personal hesitations about scripture, religion, and God. This scholarly debate reflects genuine ambiguities in the text. Milton’s theological positions were indeed heterodox in several respects, and the poem incorporates perspectives that challenge traditional Christian orthodoxy.
Andrew Marvell, Milton’s contemporary, expressed early apprehension that Milton might distort “sacred Truths” by encapsulating them within the pagan-inspired form of an epic poem, but his initial skepticism transformed into appreciation as he recognized Milton’s artistic mastery. This pattern—initial doubt followed by admiration—characterizes many readers’ experience with Paradise Lost. The poem demands intellectual engagement precisely because it does not offer easy answers or simple theological comfort. It acknowledges the difficulties inherent in Christian theodicy while attempting to work through them honestly.
The persistence of interpretive disagreement about Paradise Lost suggests that Milton succeeded in creating a work that genuinely grapples with doubt rather than merely asserting orthodox positions. Paradise Lost has the ability to cause even the most learned and sophisticated of readers to interpret it differently, and critics have proposed various theories about whether Milton dramatized Genesis as personal catharsis, as an encoded manifesto for potential anti-Christianity, or as a means of revealing to readers the true depths of their uncertainties. The fact that intelligent, well-informed readers can reach such different conclusions about the poem’s meaning and intention demonstrates that Milton incorporated genuine philosophical and theological tensions that resist definitive resolution.
The Fortunate Fall and Paradoxical Doubt
The doctrine of the felix culpa or fortunate fall represents perhaps the most profound engagement with skepticism in Paradise Lost. The felix culpa argument suggests that because Adam and Eve disobeyed God, God could demonstrate love, mercy, and grace such that ultimately the fall produces a greater good than would have happened otherwise. In Book 12, Adam exclaims about how goodness infinite produces good from evil and turns evil to good, declaring this more wonderful than creation itself bringing forth light out of darkness.
This theological paradox introduces profound doubt about the nature of God’s plan and the relationship between sin and redemption. If the Fall ultimately produces greater good than innocence, does this mean God intended or desired the Fall? Does it diminish human culpability for sin? Does it make obedience less valuable than disobedience? The felix culpa idea suggests that the Fall was necessary to allow for greater good to occur, meaning that without the Fall, salvation through Christ’s sacrifice would not have occurred and humanity could not experience a higher sense of happiness.
However, Milton does not simply endorse the felix culpa without qualification. It is impossible to accuse Paradise Lost of supporting the theological felix culpa without ignoring significant portions of the work, but it is also inadequate to conclude that Milton was blind to the benefits of man’s fall. The poem presents both the catastrophic consequences of sin—death, pain, guilt, alienation—and the hope of redemption through divine mercy. This double perspective creates productive uncertainty: readers must hold in tension both the tragedy of the Fall and the promise of eventual restoration.
The felix culpa doctrine also raises questions about the nature of prelapsarian existence. God accounts for the paradox by saying it would have been happier for humanity to have known good by itself without knowledge of evil at all. Yet the narrative structure suggests that innocent existence in Eden, while pleasant, lacked the depth and complexity that comes from moral struggle and redemption. The postlapsarian world, despite its suffering, offers opportunities for heroism, growth, and divine grace that were impossible in paradise. This creates doubt about whether innocence should be the ultimate human aspiration or whether the morally complex world that emerges after the Fall is, paradoxically, a higher state.
Free Will, Predestination, and Theological Uncertainty
The relationship between divine foreknowledge and human free will represents one of the most philosophically challenging aspects of Paradise Lost. At the heart of Paradise Lost are the themes of free will and moral consequences of disobedience, as Milton seeks to “justify the ways of God to men,” addressing questions of predestination, human agency, and the nature of good and evil. The poem repeatedly asserts that Adam and Eve possess genuine freedom to obey or disobey God, yet the narrative presents their fall as though it must inevitably occur.
In De Doctrina Christiana, Milton addressed predestination with a challenging passage suggesting that if man could not help but fall because of God’s decree, then God’s restoration of fallen man was a matter of justice rather than grace, thus presenting contradictory opinions sometimes voiced by the same people. This theological problem—how to reconcile divine omniscience with human freedom—has troubled Christian thinkers since Augustine and remains unresolved in contemporary philosophy of religion. Milton’s engagement with this issue demonstrates intellectual courage; rather than avoiding the difficulty, he makes it central to his epic.
The poem attempts to resolve this paradox by distinguishing between foreknowledge and causation. God knows what humans will choose, but this knowledge does not cause their choices. If freedom is knowledgeable choice, uncertainties and contradictions in Milton’s text do not necessarily point to theological resolution or indicate discomfort with theology itself; rather, free will defines Milton’s God and choosing among uncertainties is the necessary human condition if it is to reflect that Free Will. This interpretation suggests that the apparent contradictions in the poem reflect genuine features of reality rather than authorial confusion—that human existence necessarily involves uncertainty and that moral freedom requires the possibility of error.
However, this solution does not fully eliminate the skeptical implications. If God creates beings He knows will sin, places temptation in their path, and allows Satan access to Paradise, His claims of non-responsibility seem disingenuous. The poem does not fully resolve this tension but instead dramatizes it with remarkable honesty. Milton shows God asserting human freedom while the narrative structure suggests determinism, and he leaves readers to wrestle with the implications. This willingness to acknowledge theological difficulties rather than paper over them represents Milton’s most significant engagement with skepticism.
The Role of Raphael and the Limits of Knowledge
The extended conversation between the angel Raphael and Adam in Books V through VIII serves as Milton’s most elaborate exploration of epistemological questions. Raphael visits Paradise to warn Adam about Satan’s threat and to strengthen his resistance to temptation. However, Raphael’s explanations often raise as many questions as they answer, introducing new forms of doubt even as they attempt to provide clarity.
Raphael explicitly acknowledges the limits of human understanding when describing divine matters. He explains that he must accommodate celestial concepts to human comprehension, using “likening spiritual to corporal forms” because humans cannot yet apprehend pure spiritual reality. This admission creates epistemological uncertainty: if all knowledge of divine matters comes through accommodation and analogy, how can humans be certain they understand God’s true nature or commands? The very process of divine revelation, as Milton presents it, involves a kind of necessary distortion—truth filtered through human cognitive limitations.
Moreover, Raphael’s warnings about curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge create additional tensions. He cautions Adam against seeking knowledge beyond his sphere, particularly astronomical knowledge about the heavens. Yet this seems to contradict the notion that humans are created in God’s image with rational faculties meant to understand creation. The poem thus raises questions about what kinds of knowledge are appropriate for humans and whether intellectual curiosity is a virtue or a vice. These questions become especially pointed given that Adam and Eve’s fall involves precisely a desire for prohibited knowledge.
Milton’s Heterodox Theology and Skepticism Toward Orthodoxy
Understanding Milton’s engagement with skepticism requires acknowledging his departure from orthodox Christian theology in several significant areas. Milton’s heterodox view of Christ is not merely an academic question, as those who held heterodox beliefs, especially Antitrinitarian beliefs, during Milton’s time faced real possibility of imprisonment and death, with Arianism regarded as “archetypal Christian deviation aimed at the very heart of Christian confession”. Milton’s God is unique and indivisible, and his divinity cannot be shared or communicated directly, meaning the essence of God cannot be imparted to Christ within this system, as Milton brings Christ into existence from nothing, making him a finite creature of a different order than God.
This Arian or semi-Arian Christology represents a fundamental challenge to Nicene orthodoxy and demonstrates Milton’s willingness to question received theological doctrines. His skepticism extended to other areas as well, including his mortalist belief that the soul dies with the body until resurrection, his advocacy for divorce under certain circumstances, and his rejection of the Trinity as traditionally conceived. These heterodox positions indicate that Milton approached theology with a critical, questioning attitude rather than accepting traditional authorities without examination.
Milton’s theological skepticism manifests in Paradise Lost through subtle but significant departures from Genesis and traditional Christian interpretation. He elaborates the psychology of temptation far beyond biblical sources, presents marriage and sexuality in ways that challenged contemporary views, and develops the relationship between Adam and Eve with greater equality than was typical in his era. These creative choices reflect intellectual independence and willingness to reimagine traditional narratives in light of reason and experience.
Conclusion: The Productive Role of Doubt in Paradise Lost
Milton’s engagement with skepticism and doubt in Paradise Lost is not a weakness or inadvertent flaw but rather a central feature that contributes to the poem’s enduring power and relevance. By dramatizing theological difficulties rather than simply asserting orthodox positions, Milton created a work that continues to provoke thought and debate. The poem invites readers to consider whether Milton decided to dramatize Genesis to throw into the foreground the very human tendencies of skepticism and self-doubt that exist only in the margins of conventional religious and philosophic thought.
The poem’s greatness lies precisely in its intellectual honesty—its willingness to acknowledge genuine problems in Christian theodicy while attempting to work through them. Milton does not offer easy answers to questions about divine justice, human freedom, or the problem of evil. Instead, he presents these questions in their full complexity and invites readers to engage with them seriously. This approach requires readers to participate actively in the theological and philosophical work of the poem rather than passively receiving dogmatic instruction.
For contemporary readers, Milton’s engagement with doubt remains relevant because it addresses perennial human concerns: How can we reconcile suffering with divine benevolence? Do humans possess genuine freedom or are our choices predetermined? Can good emerge from evil? Is knowledge inherently valuable or can it be dangerous? These questions continue to trouble thoughtful people regardless of their religious commitments. Milton’s willingness to explore them without providing facile resolutions demonstrates intellectual courage and artistic integrity.
The critical controversies surrounding Paradise Lost—debates about whether Milton succeeded in justifying God’s ways, whether Satan is the poem’s true hero, whether the felix culpa legitimates sin—all testify to the productive uncertainty Milton built into his epic. These interpretive disputes are not signs that the poem fails but rather evidence that it succeeds in engaging readers with genuinely difficult questions. A poem that provoked universal agreement would lack the depth and complexity that make Paradise Lost a canonical masterwork.
Ultimately, Milton’s engagement with skepticism and doubt serves his stated theodicean purpose in unexpected ways. Rather than defending God through rhetorical assertion or logical proof, Milton presents divine providence working through and despite human uncertainty, error, and suffering. The poem suggests that doubt itself may be a necessary component of genuine faith—that belief tested by questioning is more authentic than unexamined acceptance. In this sense, Paradise Lost offers not a resolution of doubt but a demonstration of how faith can coexist with intellectual honesty and critical thinking.
The poem concludes not with absolute certainty but with provisional hope. Michael grants Adam visions of a future in which redemption will eventually arrive to reunite Heaven and Earth, though there will be much suffering before that reconciliation, suggesting that Adam and Eve’s fall is the felix culpa, or fortunate fall, because God’s mercy is shown. Adam and Eve leave Paradise with “wandering steps and slow” but also with renewed faith and the promise of future redemption. This ending acknowledges both the tragic consequences of sin and the hope of divine mercy—a balance that refuses either despair or complacency. In dramatizing this complex theological and emotional reality, Milton created a work that respects both the power of faith and the legitimacy of doubt, demonstrating that the two need not be incompatible.
References
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