Milton exposes a key Reformation weakness: Protestants expanded education but often didn’t reform it theologically, so classical Greek/Roman humanism stayed in the curriculum; Milton could define education’s goal superbly (repair the Fall by knowing God and pursuing virtue) yet still prescribed “the old learning,” producing an eclectic mind and helping explain why the Commonwealth’s liberty collapsed into public craving for license rather than true freedom. The lecture links this to Milton and Cromwell’s dilemma—how to sustain a godly order with ungodly rulers—hence their push for maximum freedom of the press (Areopagitica) while wrestling with the still-unsolved problem of liberty of conscience without biblical boundaries. Milton’s spiritual-political grief then runs through Paradise Lost (evil as a will to pervert; “better to reign in hell”) into Paradise Regained where Christ, the second Adam, defeats Satan in the wilderness and founds a “fairer Paradise,” calling believers to advance His victory in every sphere; the Q&A adds that Milton’s blindness cause is unknown (sensational claims debunked) and that hostile biographies distort his family life and marriages. #JohnMilton #ChristianEducation #Reformation #Worldview #ClassicalHumanism #Areopagitica #FreedomOfThePress #LibertyOfConscience #Commonwealth #Cromwell #ParadiseLost #ParadiseRegained #SpiritualWarfare #Dominion #ChristIsLord #PostmillennialHope

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