Miltons Mosaic Law and Law of Grace Comparison :: Milton Religion Religious Law Moses Essays

Miltons Mosaic Law and Law of Grace ComparisonCertainly anyone who has been involved with Sunday teach at church, has taken a religion class, or has any knowledge of the Christian religion has heard of Moses, the man who carried a big stick, parted the ruby-red Sea and led the Israelites out of slavery into the Promised Land. However, there is more to Moses story than a forty-year excursion through the desert. Besides his role in freeing his people, Moses in addition served as a vessel for the Word of divinity fudge. The events that this man was so instrumental in have been referenced throughout history, and the Law of Moses provides the basis of John Miltons discussion of divorce in his 1644 treatise Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce. In his exposition, Milton compares the approaches on divorce put forth by the Mosaic Law and that proclaimed by the Law of Grace, and uses them to support his own beliefs on the issue. As Milton argues his case for divorce, it becomes clear th at he manipulates Scripture to support his points. To understand how Miltons use of Mosaic Law, it is important to understand what it is. After Moses led the Hebrews through the desert, he was enlisted by God to act as a mediator between the Him and His people. Moses received the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai and received from God multifarious enactments, by the observance of which Israel was to be moulded into a theocratic nation, thus the installment of Mosaic Legislation on the Israelites. (Moses) scratch with the Ten Commandments, the Law of Moses is the laws that God gave to the Israelites through Moses it includes many rules of religious observances given in the first five books of the Old testament. (Mosaic Law) Among the guidelines set forth by God through Moses were guidelines regarding diet (Leviticus 113), the consecration of priests (Exodus 295-9) and marriage (Exodus 2216). While the Hebrews were expected to abide by the laws laid out in the Old Testament by Moses, the coming and crucifixion of Jesus negated many of these laws, as the Law of Grace took precedence over everything prior. In his Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, Milton uses scripture from two the Old and New Testaments and argues that the Law of Moses was more lenient than that of Grace, and therefore makes more sense.