Three very bright men named John...

A reader emails:

'Riddle me this: [John Henry] Cardinal Newman proclaims on several occasions in his "Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine" that Calvinism has led to Unitarianism. Do you know what he's talking about? My branch of Calvinism is Trinitarian, so I'm trying to figure if he thinks we've got the Trinity so wrong that we're practically Unitarian, or if there was a branch that formally became Unitarian.'

I reply as follows:

I have not read Cardinal Newman's essay, but I am familiar with the theme and agree with it that Calvinism leads to Unitarianism, not necessarily, but logically. The essential issue is whether we receive our Savior and our faith physically and sacramentally or receive it largely through our eyes and ears.

If we receive our Savior and our faith physically and sacramentally, then the mysteries of the Trinity, the Real Presence, the Virgin Birth, the Incarnation, etc. become part of the daily landscape and furniture of our lives. We do not need to apply vigorous reason to filter our faith and the scriptures in order to produce fruit through our hands. Our hands and mouths touch fruit weekly, and thus sharing and producing fruit with our hands is natural though mystical.

If we receive our Savior and our faith largely through our eyes and ears in the written Word of God, we are no doubt edified. In fact, the written Word of God is so powerful that it (or He) has elevated many believers to holiness that is both palpable and mystical. There are Christians who foreswore the sacramental life who yet found holiness and mystery, even ecstasy, in the life of the Spirit.

Christianity limited to the written Word of God, however, leaves few foundation stones for future generations. Each generation of believers must learn the scriptures, digest the scriptures, and figure out how to live out the scriptures. Everyone suffers. Being learned in the scriptures can lead to elitism and the cult of the mighty pastor. Churches (or to be technically correct, ecclesial communities) must compete for the best preaching talent. The poor and unlearned can only latch on to a handful of scriptures and try to produce spiritual fruit without sacramental tools.

For the rich and the comfortable, reason becomes their worst enemy. (For example, look at almost any well-endowed Protestant seminary.) They receive their Savior and their faith through their eyes and ears. They digest their faith through reason. Reason becomes the personal gateway for every individual soul.

The Catholic knows that when he receives the Eucharist, he receives the mystical Body and Blood of Christ Himself. When the Catholic drinks from the Cup, he shares the Cup not only with those in the building, but with everyone in living, dead, and yet to be born who ever received Christ. The Cup is suspended in time. Long before Monty Python turned the search for the Holy Grail into a farce, wise men and ambitious men alike understood its power.

Thus, if you look at the history of Calvinism in several countries, it follows a pattern: zeal for the written Word of God, attempted conversion of life and practice to scriptural standards, renunciation of sacraments and tradition, open rebellion against all bishops, predestination to the nth degree, vigorous debate about the meaning of scriptures, debilitating debate about church governance, debate re how to measure the regeneracy of "cradle Christians," weakening of the 3rd and 4th generations, development of "Calvinism-light", e.g., Harvard in the 18th century and Yale in the 19th, schisms, revivals, and increased focus on the individual as the rational discerner of the truths of God.

Having jettisoned sacraments, mystery, tradition, and bishops, the heirs of the Calvinists have almost no defense from Occam's razor, that is, reason. The heterodox use the same rational methods to discuss the written Word of God as the orthodox. There are no bishops to draw a line in the sand. Tradition cannot be used as authority, and precedent outside of scripture cannot be used as authority. Precedent within scripture can be distinguished, just as lawyers in America distinguish old cases in common-law reasoning, e.g., abortion.

Thus, questions of morality such as artificial contraception and homosexual practice are debated with no authoritative reference to history or precedent. Likewise, the Trinity, the Mother of God, the canon of scriptures, Jesus' "one in being with the Father," and other issues of basic doctrine permanently settled by the Church more than a thousand years ago can be openly debated by rational individuals having no interest in continuity or institutional memory.

John Adams was the direct descendent of New England Puritans who had emigrated from Somersetshire in 1638. John Adams' father was born in 1691, the time of the Salem Witch Trials. He became a deacon of First Church, Braintree, and the future president was born in 1735. The future president was a pious and moralistic man in the Puritan culture and tradition, yet he was a rationalist and a product of the Enlightenment. He attended Harvard in the 18th century, which was rigorous in intellect and rigid in its Puritan trappings, yet weak and heterodox in its Calvinism. President Adams died in 1826 a Unitarian. By that time, most of the old Puritans of New England had abandoned their Trinitarian doctrine and embraced a view of God, man, and matter which allowed little mystery. Thus, his family's story tells the bigger story.