Graduation Year
2020
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Religious Studies
Reader 1
Luis Salés
Reader 2
Oona Eisenstadt
Reader 3
Jerry Irish
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© YYYY Tova A Cohen
Abstract
In this senior thesis, I aim to explore the presence of shame in John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion, via the excavation of the three main components that comprise of his edifice: original sin, grace, and predestination. Through a close reading of Calvin's Institutes, its application to Aristotelian ethics, and its consistencies (or lack thereof) with the biblical story of Genesis, I found that Calvin's theology not only suffers logical structure, but implores the Christian practitioner to embrace shame as a means to spiritually elevate the self. To conclude, I utilize Stephanie Arel's Affect Theory to uncover the detrimental impacts that shame has on the body and mind, as well as the possible benefits that shame can yield, if regulated appropriately.
Recommended Citation
Cohen, Tova, "The Necessity and Detriment of Shame as Presented in John Calvin's Institutes" (2020). Scripps Senior Theses. 1592.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/1592
Included in
Christianity Commons, Personality and Social Contexts Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons
