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In Defense of Rational Belief: A Lonely Struggle
The word rational is indicative of rationality itself. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it is: the power or faculty of reason. Often times it is the case that to assert rationality one need prove the opposite; irrationality. Milton stands alone, in all his glory, as a man on a mission from God who has been chosen to enlighten his fellow man on all things rational especially in regard to religion and human rights. Or at least that is what he would like you to believe.
As a man stands up for what he believes to be true and good there will always be another man who stands and either attempts to confront and deny or to stand alongside and support what it is that’s being told. When you think of a man so strongly grounded in his belief of a religion that he believes himself to be chosen by God, according to Milton, you need look no further.
Time and time again, throughout much of his discourse, Milton outright exclaims this idea of being a chosen one. In his Reason of Church-Government speech he says things like “God have given me ability…” and “God at the present had lent me…” (838) [cite instead?]. He speaks these notions in defense of his belief in his religion. And he speaks these things as if he is alone in the world banging on a door, like another man in defense of his religion did many years before him. He is saying “Hang on a minute!” You can almost see his exasperation.
“I shall deserve of the age by bringing into the light as true a birth as the Muses…” [cite stationer to the reader] This passage from Moseley would easily lead one to believe that he is a true admirer of Milton. He is even going so far as to say that the man himself needs no title. His work speaks for itself.