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Giants in the History of Education
John Milton: Classical Learning and the Progress of Virtue
The Puritan poet John Milton is most famous for his massive theological epic Paradise Lost. He was also known as perhaps the greatest genius of the English Renaissance possibly the best-educated man of his day and also a major theorist of classical learning for Christians. The man who wrote the seminal words "The end then of Learning is to repair the ruines of our first Parents by regaining to know God aright, and out of that knowledge to love him, to imitate him, to be like him . . . " (Of Education, 1644) argues across all his voluminous writings that the purpose of education is soul work for virtue as opposed to information gathering for profit. In this book, Milton scholar Professor Grant Horner from The Master's College examines the poet's powerful vision of a Christian and classical education. Trained at Duke University by Stanley Fish, the world's most influential Miltonist, Horner approaches the text as a Christian educator himself, bringing the complex seventeenth-century texts into modern light for practical application. Addressing questions such as how to handle pagan texts, how to develop a theology of aesthetics, and why we must grapple with the relationship between pagan wisdom and scripture, this book will serve as a thorough and readable introduction to the complex thought of one of the Puritan intellectual giants.
"As we continue in our day with the task of rebuilding classical Christian education, one of the things we absolutely must do is reexamine the thought of some of the giants produced in times past by an earlier iteration of that same kind of education. And that is exactly what Grant Horner has done in this fine treatment of Milton. Highly recommended." --Douglas Wilson
"As we continue in our day with the task of rebuilding classical Christian education, one of the things we absolutely must do is reexamine the thought of some of the giants produced in times past by an earlier iteration of that same kind of education. And that is exactly what Grant Horner has done in this fine treatment of Milton. Highly recommended." --Douglas Wilson
104 pages, Perfect Paperback
First published April 27, 2015
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About the author
Grant Horner
9 books14 followersGrant Horner is a full-time Associate Professor at The Masters College in Santa Clarita, CA. He specializes in literary and cultural studies, especially Renaissance and Reformation studies, philosophy, theology, art history, and film studies. He teaches a Medieval/Renaissance survey course, and upper division courses on Milton, Shakespeare, Poetry and Poetics, Epic, Dramatic Literature, Critical Theory (Pre-Socratics through Derrida), Art History, Film Studies, Classical Christian Humanism, Classical Latin, & Comedy. He also teaches Art History in Germany and Italy for AMBEX. Some of the languages he speak includes Koine Greek, Anglo-Saxon, Middle English, Middle French, and Medieval Latin. Dr. Horner has been an invited lecturer at Caltech on "Western Representations of Consciousness in Art, Literature and Philosophy," to Berkeley students on "Art, Philosophy and Christianity" and numerous conferences in the United States on theology, the Renaissance and Reformation, philosophy, and the Arts. In Fall 2011, he was honored to lecture in New College Lecture Hall at the University of Oxford on "Islam, Christianity and Western Liberal Enlightenment."
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February 13, 2021Horner, Grant. John Milton: Classical Learning and the Progress of Virtue. Camp Hill, PA: Classical Academic Press, 2015.
A man of virtue must have discrimination of taste. You can only get there by being trained in virtue. Grant Horner walks us through that process by means of the lens of John Milton.
John Milton modeled his education after the Greek “schole” (Horner 13). This type of education, what Russell Kirk would call “humane letters,” implied some degree of the leisure necessary for it. A good education won’t yield fruit immediately. It takes time.
Milton saw education as a partial corrective to the Fall (25; see his famous line on “repair the ruins”). He is not saying that knowing the good means one will do the good (though the Platonic truth in that line is almost always misunderstood). Rather, imitating the good (presumably, at least by immersion in it) is itself an act of transformation and becoming.
Milton urged learning foreign languages by use, not rote memorization of charts. Yes and no. You have to have some rudimentary knowledge before jumping into the text. On the other hand, though, one does make better progress through reading these great texts. The danger, though, is to avoid what my German and Latin mentor called “taco Spanish.” That is when you give a student a computer program to learn a language and at the end all he can really say is “taco.”
Milton also assumed you would learn Italian in your spare time, since it wasn’t difficult.
At the heart of his project is a three-fold examination of virtue. We begin with the grace of faith, then we progress in virtue, and we arrive at the perfection of a thing. Virtue is the middle term between grace and perfection.
In practical terms, and in conjunction with his language program that allows the student to view the world through language, the student should be reading heroic literature. This creates an “admiration of virtue, stirred up with high hopes living to be brave men, worthy Patriots, dear to God, and famous to all ages” (Milton “Of Education”).
The Miltonic goal is to unite intellectual, physical, and spiritual teaching into one unity.
A man of virtue must have discrimination of taste. You can only get there by being trained in virtue. Grant Horner walks us through that process by means of the lens of John Milton.
John Milton modeled his education after the Greek “schole” (Horner 13). This type of education, what Russell Kirk would call “humane letters,” implied some degree of the leisure necessary for it. A good education won’t yield fruit immediately. It takes time.
Milton saw education as a partial corrective to the Fall (25; see his famous line on “repair the ruins”). He is not saying that knowing the good means one will do the good (though the Platonic truth in that line is almost always misunderstood). Rather, imitating the good (presumably, at least by immersion in it) is itself an act of transformation and becoming.
Milton urged learning foreign languages by use, not rote memorization of charts. Yes and no. You have to have some rudimentary knowledge before jumping into the text. On the other hand, though, one does make better progress through reading these great texts. The danger, though, is to avoid what my German and Latin mentor called “taco Spanish.” That is when you give a student a computer program to learn a language and at the end all he can really say is “taco.”
Milton also assumed you would learn Italian in your spare time, since it wasn’t difficult.
At the heart of his project is a three-fold examination of virtue. We begin with the grace of faith, then we progress in virtue, and we arrive at the perfection of a thing. Virtue is the middle term between grace and perfection.
In practical terms, and in conjunction with his language program that allows the student to view the world through language, the student should be reading heroic literature. This creates an “admiration of virtue, stirred up with high hopes living to be brave men, worthy Patriots, dear to God, and famous to all ages” (Milton “Of Education”).
The Miltonic goal is to unite intellectual, physical, and spiritual teaching into one unity.
September 29, 2025
A little book full of rich thought on classical education and how John Milton wrote on the topic in the 1600s. Horner not only knows his topic well, but writes in such a way as to clearly bring out Milton's views on education to a modern audience.
July 24, 2018
This is an excellent introduction to Milton surveying his brief essay Of Education, the Areopagitica , and Paradise Post and Paradise Regained. This really is a great introduction to a literary giants.
September 13, 2019
A great little book - not too long and not too short - on Milton’s contribution to Christian thinking about education. If, like me, you didn’t really know he had made a contribution to thinking about education, then this book is for you.
September 23, 2018
I’ve heard Grant Horner speak at the ACCS conference a number of times, and his passion for Milton is contagious. This book is a brief, yet really engaging account of Milton’s life, his genius (which cannot be overstated...gracious), and his best works. I absolutely loved this book and all of the insight into Milton, and Paradise Lost in particular, that it provided.
March 26, 2022
A book that studies John Milton's wise view on education, as you can see checking those quotes below:
"In both Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, Milton returns again and again to his credo about the purpose of education: “The end then of learning is to repair the ruins of our first parents by regaining to know God aright, and out of that knowledge to love him, to imitate him, to be like him, as we may the nearest by possessing our souls of true virtue, which being united to the heavenly grace of faith makes up the highest perfection.”17 Education—even when one is learning true things—is ultimately valueless without knowledge of the truth in Christ." (from "John Milton: Classical Learning and the Progress of Virtue (Giants in the History of Education) (English Edition)" by Grant Horner, David Diener)
"Mastery of any discipline, or all of them, is not sufficient. All learning must come under the superintending rubric of God and His Word or it is futile. Again, Ecclesiastes 12:12 comes to mind: “Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.” We can never know everything, and if we did it would only leave us exhausted. We can, however, know the One who knows everything and in Him learn all that is necessary, helpful, and good to know. In Christ the illiterate and the philosopher are no different; their value is in how they apply what learning they have in the imitation of Christ." (from "John Milton: Classical Learning and the Progress of Virtue (Giants in the History of Education) (English Edition)" by Grant Horner, David Diener)
February 1, 2021
This was an immensely enjoyable Sunday read. When I read that Horner studied under Fish, I knew I was in for a treat.
Before I started my freshman year of college, I arrived on campus a week early to settle in. In that week, I read "Paradise Lost." It was disorienting and exhilarating. It made me grateful to have decided to major in English. And it sparked an enduring interest in Milton (though he's always played second fiddle to Dostoevsky!).
Simple and readable, this is an excellent introduction to a very brilliant thinker. Horner writes like a man who believes in Milton's educative project. And, after reading Milton's prose, it's hard not to!
I was hoping for a bit more discussion on some of the questions around Milton's christology. Though Horner is not convinced "De Doctrina" is, in fact, written by Milton (which is, as he mentions, contested), I think it may have merited more than a footnote. I understand that to be a bit outside the purview of the book, so I can't hold that against him.
In the end, reading this was an excellent way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I'd encourage you to do the same!
Before I started my freshman year of college, I arrived on campus a week early to settle in. In that week, I read "Paradise Lost." It was disorienting and exhilarating. It made me grateful to have decided to major in English. And it sparked an enduring interest in Milton (though he's always played second fiddle to Dostoevsky!).
Simple and readable, this is an excellent introduction to a very brilliant thinker. Horner writes like a man who believes in Milton's educative project. And, after reading Milton's prose, it's hard not to!
I was hoping for a bit more discussion on some of the questions around Milton's christology. Though Horner is not convinced "De Doctrina" is, in fact, written by Milton (which is, as he mentions, contested), I think it may have merited more than a footnote. I understand that to be a bit outside the purview of the book, so I can't hold that against him.
In the end, reading this was an excellent way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I'd encourage you to do the same!
December 31, 2019
Mr. Horner presented excellent information, biographical and on Milton's position on education. It is refreshing to be given such valuable insight into a proper role of educating students and the ultimate purpose of such training. Too often it is thought that education is provided so the student will be able to obtain a superior (well-paying) job. Too little regard is given to training a student to be a person of character and one seeking a calling that would bring honor to God and to himself. Hopefully many people will avail themselves to this work and gain a new perspective on the role of education and the teacher.
April 11, 2020
I previously owned and somehow lost this book. I bought it again and read it again, if that is any measure of its value. I highly recommend it!
It is a small book less interested in citations and more interested in rooting out enough of Milton’s genius to whet the reader’s appetite for more. He is presented as a prodigy and scholar of the finest rank.
This book presents some fine gems regarding educational aims and methods. I’ve found it influential in my own understanding of learning.
It is a small book less interested in citations and more interested in rooting out enough of Milton’s genius to whet the reader’s appetite for more. He is presented as a prodigy and scholar of the finest rank.
This book presents some fine gems regarding educational aims and methods. I’ve found it influential in my own understanding of learning.
October 28, 2018
It's been a while since I finished this book, so my review will be brief. From what I can recall, Dr. Horner does a great job in putting forth a case for Classical Learning. However, I need to read it again since the book is so short in length.
Regardless, I still recommend it to anyone curious about views on education different from the status quo; especially if you're a Christian.
Regardless, I still recommend it to anyone curious about views on education different from the status quo; especially if you're a Christian.
August 3, 2023
So good! I ended up reading it twice because I took such a long break after three chapters reading other things, but that made me understand it better. I was surprised by the ending, but pleasantly—classical education is important, but the most important thing is knowing God and being like Christ!
November 17, 2015
Interesting overview of Milton's thoughts on education in various works, including the Areopagatica and his poetry. Nothing particularly groundbreaking, but a very accessible summary.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews