David Urban

Recent Publications

Entries on “Matthew,” “Luke,” and “Sonnet 9” in The Milton Encyclopedia. Thomas Corns, General Editor (Yale UP, 2008). Forthcoming.

 “Balancing the Antithesis: An Enduring Pedagogical Value of Worldview.” After Worldview. James M. Bonzo and Michael Stevens, Editors (Dordt Press, 2008).  Forthcoming.

“The Lady of Christ’s College, Himself a ‘Virgin Wise and Pure’: Parabolic Self-Reference in John Milton’s Sonnet 9.”  Milton Studies 47 (2008). 1-23. 

“‘Intimate Impulses,’ ‘Rousing Motions,’ and the Written Law: Internal and External Scripture in Samson Agonistes.” Uncircumscribed Mind: Reading Milton Deeply.  Kristin Pruitt and Charles Durham, Editors. (Susquehanna UP/Associated Univ. Presses, 2008). 292-306.

“Talents and Laborers: Parabolic Tension in Milton’s Sonnet 19.”  Milton in France.  Christophe Tournu, Editor (Lang, 2008).  61-71.

 “Trinitarian Community in Literature and the Classroom.”  Minds in the Making 4.2 (Winter 2008).

Review of Michael Lieb, Theological Milton: Deity, Discourse, and Heresy in the Miltonic Canon (Duquesne UP, 2006).  Christianity and Literature 57.1 (2007). 130-35.

“On Christian Doctrine in the Classroom: Teaching the Conflict and What's at Stake.” The MLA Guide to Teaching Milton's Shorter Poetry and Prose. Peter Herman, Editor (Modern Languages Association, 2007).  235-41.

“‘Out of His Treasury Things New and Old’: Milton’s Parabolic Householder in The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce and De Doctrina Christiana.” Milton’s Legacy. Kristin Pruitt and Charles Durham, Editors (Susquehanna UP/Associated Univ. Presses, 2005). 208-19. This volume was awarded the Irene Samuel Memorial Award by the Milton Society of America as the best “edition, bibliography, multiauthor collection of essays, [or] edited commentary” in Milton studies for 2005.

“The Evasion of the Finite in Hawthorne's ‘The Birthmark.'” Christianity and Literature 54.3 (Spring 2005). 343-58.

Entries on “Hero Story,” “Imagery,” and “Irony” for The Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible.  Kevin Vanhoozer, General Editor; Craig C. Bartholomew, Daniel J. Treier, N.T. Wright, Editors (Baker Academic/SPCK, 2005). 287-90; 319-21; 334-36. This volume was recognized as the top book for 2005 in the “Bible Reference and Study” category by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) and was also awarded the ECPA’s highest award as the “Christian Book of the Year” for 2005.

Review of Kristin A. Pruitt, Gender and the Power of Relationship: “United as one individual Soul” in Paradise Lost  (Duquesne UP, 2003). ANQ 18.4 (Fall 2005). 53-56.

“The Talented Mr. Milton: A Parabolic Laborer and His Identity.” Milton Studies 43 (2004). 1-18.

“‘Rousing Motions' and the Silence of God: Scripture and Immediate Revelation in Samson Agonistes and Clarel.” Leviathan: A Journal of Melville Studies (Special Issue on Melville and Milton) March-October 2002. 91-111.

Reprinted in Melville and Milton: An Edition and Analysis of Melville's Annotations on Milton. Robin Grey, Editor (Duquesne UP, 2004). 87-107.

Review essay on four books devoted to Milton’s Samson Agonistes: John T. Shawcross, The Uncertain World of “Samson Agonistes.”  (Studies in Renaissance Literature, Vol. 6.  Brewer, 2001); Derek N.C. Wood, “Exiled From Light”: Divine Law, Morality, and Violence in Milton’s “Samson Agonistes.” (University of Toronto P, 2001); Joseph Wittreich, Shifting Contexts: Reinterpreting “Samson Agonistes” (Duquesne UP, 2002); Mark R. Kelley and Joseph Wittreich, Editors, Altering Eyes: New Perspectives on Samson Agonistes” (U of Delaware P, 2002). Religion and Literature 36.2 (Summer 2004).  119-28.

Review of Ralph C. Wood, Contending for the Faith: The Church's Engagement with Culture (Baylor UP, 2003). Christianity and Literature, 54.1 (Fall 2004). 141-45.

“Haiku for Jim Vanden Bosch.”  Dialogue 37.1 (Fall 2004).  6.

Review of Derek Wood, “Exiled From Light”: Divine Law, Morality, and Violence in Milton's “Samson Agonistes” (University of Toronto P, 2001). Milton Quarterly 37.1 (March 2003). 43-46.

Review essay on recent books on John Donne: Jeffrey Johnson, The Theology of John Donne (Studies in Renaissance Literature, Vol. 1.  Brewer, 1999); Theresa M. DiPasquale, Literature and Sacrament: The Sacred and the Secular in John Donne (Duquesne UP, 1999); R.V. Young, Doctrine and Devotion in 17th-Century Poetry: Studies in Donne, Herbert, Crashaw, and Vaughan.  (Studies in Renaissance Literature, Vol. 2.  Brewer, 2000).  Cithara 42.1 (November 2002).  55-58.
Review of Larry R. Isitt, All the Names in Heaven: A Reference Guide to Milton’s Supernatural Names and Epic Similes (Scarecrow P, 2002). Seventeenth-Century News 60.3 & 4 (Fall-Winter 2002). 199-201.

Review of Victoria Silver, Imperfect Sense: The Predicament of Milton’s Irony (Princeton UP, 2001). Seventeenth-Century News 60.1 & 2 (Spring-Summer 2002). 34-38.

Review of Barbara K. Lewalski, The Life of John Milton (Blackwell, 2000). Christianity and Literature 51.2 (Spring 2002). 489-92.

Review of Robin Grey, The Complicity of Imagination: The American Renaissance, Contests of Authority, and 17th -Century English Culture (Cambridge UP, 1997) Christianity and Literature 51.1 (Winter 2002). 294-97.

Review of Jameela Lares, Milton and the Preaching Arts (Duquesne UP, 2001). Milton Quarterly 35.4 (December 2001).  275-77.