“On the New Forcers of Conscience” and Milton’s Erastianism

Did Milton Have an Erastian Phase?

“…Is “New Forcers” an Erastian poem, and does it indicate an Erastian phase for Milton in the mid‐1640s? So claims a thought‐provoking recent article by Michael Komorowski: “Milton needs to be more clearly identified as an Erastian in the middle years of the 1640s, and probably a moderately enthusiastic one, who saw the position as something more than a simple mariage de convenance ” (249). If true, Komorowski's claim would change our understanding not only of “New Forcers” but of the development of Milton's thinking on church and state.…”

“…For a Miltonic instance of the former sense, see Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce : “the woman … was adjur'd by the Priest to swear whether she were fals or no” ( CPW 2: 336). For a Miltonic instance of the latter sense, see Milton, Complete Shorter Poems, SA 851‐53 : “And princes of my country came in person, / Solicited commanded, threatened, urged, / Adjured by all the bounds of civil Duty.” Komorowski proposes that the former sense applies in “New Forcers” (249); but on either reading the lines presuppose that the power of implementation lies with Parliament.…”