ABSTRACT
Milton's De Doctrina Christiana was conceived as a systematic exposition of Christian teaching. The method according to which Milton systematized his theology was that outlined in his Artis Logicae. Milton begins with a definition, then distributes this definition into its integral parts, and continues with this procedure until he arrives at the indivisible elements of theology. The parts of the treatise are joined together by formal transitions, as recommended in the Artis Logicae. The last five chapters of Book I of De Doctrina are internally confused, not connected to the preceding chapters with an adequate transition, and not integrated into the structure of the rest of the treatise. A series of deleted notes in the manuscript shows that the treatise once stood in ten parts. Milton had apparently completed the reorganization of everything except the sixth part. De Doctrina Christiana must accordingly be seen as unfinished.
