The Introduction outlines the relationship between poetry, political thought, and theology explored in the book. It explains how the most important Protestant theologians of the day understood grace and the political and religious pressures that were foremost in their mind. It outlines how the poets explored in this study intervened in that context to create imagined communities of grace. In particular, it explores how poets joined the ideal of a learned imagination to the Protestant language of salvation in order to advance a vision of political life. The introduction also offers a summary of the key themes that are shared between the poets of this study as well as the features that separate them. Finally, it provides a close reading of one of Milton's sonnets as a practical example of how poetic form allowed poets to repurpose grace for political ends and express the inherent paradoxes of this concept.

The Introduction outlines the relationship between poetry, political thought, and theology explored in the book. It explains how the most important Protestant theologians of the day understood grace and the political and religious pressures that were foremost in their mind. It outlines how the poets explored in this study intervened in that context to create imagined communities of grace. In particular, it explores how poets joined the ideal of a learned imagination to the Protestant language of salvation in order to advance a vision of political life. The introduction also offers a summary of the key themes that are shared between the poets of this study as well as the features that separate them. Finally, it provides a close reading of one of Milton's sonnets as a practical example of how poetic form allowed poets to repurpose grace for political ends and express the inherent paradoxes of this concept.

Chapter 2 explores how Edmund Spenser imagined Protestant imperialism in Ireland in relation to grace and the related concept of equity. It begins with a history of equity as a concept in law and scriptural interpretation before turning to its role in Protestant writing as an interpretive habit that was supposed to be a sign of grace. The chapter argues that Spenser used equity and grace in both his poetry and prose to describe the ideal community of Protestants in colonial Ireland while at the same time excluding the native Irish from participation. In The Faerie Queene in particular, Spenser draws on the close relationship between grace and equity in order to legitimize his ideal of a Protestant empire on religious as well as political grounds. This vision had expansive reach while at the same time reflecting on Spenser's immediate context as part of the Protestant English presence in Ireland.

Chapter 3 argues that Aemilia Lanyer offers a gendered perspective on grace in Salve Deus, Rex Iudaeorum. The chapter situates Lanyer in the genre of sacred poetry that emerged in response to metrical psalm translations in this period. It argues that Lanyer turned grace into a way to authorize women's poetry despite their marginalization by learned men in this world. This argument allows her to challenge humanist learning. The chapter devotes special attention to Lanyer's transformation of the female mourners for Christ during the Passion into an ideal community of women poets. The chapter also shows that Lanyer deploys these arguments to challenge social inequality between women as well, thus showing how grace could authorize the poet to challenge class-based divisions as well as gender.

Chapter 3 explores how Abraham Cowley reimagined grace as the basis of poetic authority in his unfinished epic, Davideis. The chapter begins with contemporary debates on the dangers of religious subject matter in poetry before explaining how Cowley responded by recuperating scripture as a fit subject for epic. The rest of the chapter explains how Cowley transformed grace in particular as the foundation of poetic inspiration. In Davideis, grace is mediated to the nation via the beauty of David's poetry and that of his close friend, Jonathan. This argument allows Cowley to reconstitute poetry as a possible medium for grace, thus advancing his larger ambition for a sacred epic. The chapter concludes by explaining what Cowley's attempt contributed to political debates on civil war notwithstanding his abandonment of the project.

Chapter 4 argues that John Milton developed an idiosyncratic theory of grace that unites his poetry and prose and culminates in the representation of the Son of God in Paradise Lost. It explores Milton's Arminian theory of grace and argues that it balances obedience to a sovereign God with free will in the process of interpretation. The political expression of this perspective is Milton's ideal community in which grace empowers citizens to interpret scripture freely and debate their conclusions in public. The chapter then traces these ideas to the Son of God's discussion of grace in Paradise Lost. The Son embodies Milton's ideal balance between obedience and creativity, and his example informs the prayer of Adam and Eve at the end of the poem. The chapter ends by explaining how this concluding prayer weaves Milton's political and religious ideas into the ending of Paradise Lost.

Chapter 6 argues that in Paradise Regained, Milton imagines grace as a gift that empowers learned men to debate their religious opinions publicly. Drawing on contemporary views of prophecy, this chapter compares Milton to his radical contemporaries so as to show that he remained staunchly committed throughout his life to the value of a humanist education in shaping his ideal community of grace. Christ echoes this argument in Paradise Regained when he draws on his rhetorical learning to describe grace and its fruits in the ideal community. Although Christ is dismissive of some kinds of learning, this chapter shows that he embodies the interpretive ideal that Milton saw as the fruit of grace. The chapter shows that the much-debated pinnacle scene in Paradise Regained can be understood as part of a broader effort to reclaim learning and public debate as important parts of any would-be community of grace.

The conclusion turns to the work of Simone Weil to summarize some of the key metaphors that are part of grace as a concept. It then returns to the broader themes and paradoxes in grace that inspired the poets explored in this book to imagine their communities in new ways. The conclusion ends by summarizing what this period may tell us about the political stakes of grace and its relationship to education.