弥尔顿心中的上帝

God in Milton

英国17世纪伟大的诗人弥尔顿的一生是战斗的一生,但他同时又是上帝的一个忠实信徒。《圣经》是他生活和创作的重要组成部分,是他生命的支柱,创作的源泉;但他又是一个学为己用的人。经他创作加工过的《圣经》故事和人物都被赋予了新的意义,用来为他所终身为之奋斗的革命事业服务。在他的作品中,“上帝”时而是一个最高道德的创导者,时而是一个令人憎恶的暴君,时而是一个心胸狭窄、贪婪的主,时而又是一个严厉的父亲……。诗人的神学思想和革命思想的矛盾使他在不同的作品中把“上帝”这个被基督徒顶礼膜拜的神圣的偶像塑造成了各种不同的矛盾人物。

John Milton, one of the greatest poets of England in the 17th century, lived a life both pious to God and devoted to the Revolution. Of his life and his writing career, the Bible was an important component. It is a spiritual pillar to his life and resources of his literary creation. The biblical stories and characters that had been recreated by him have been endowed with fresh significance and used for the revolutionary cause that he had struggled all his life. In his works God is sometimes the creator of the noblest moral principles; sometimes a cruel tyranny; sometimes a narrow-minded and greedy Lord; sometimes a strict father…… The mixture thoughts of Milton抯 theology and revolution made him mould God, the holy image of all Christians, into a contradictory figure in his different writings.