#george herbert

You know? Despite my misgivings about Calvinist theology, Calvinist poetry tends to be absolutely amazing. Anne Vaughan Locke, John Donne, George Herbert, Henry Vaughan. The earnestness of their poetry is unmatched. Richard Crashaw, one of my favorite poets, comes close to Donne in his use of baroque imagery, but nowhere does he even begin to touch the deep agony of Calvinist poetics. Some Reformed Christians have, incorrectly, argued that Calvinism makes one humbler. This is absurdly false: Christians in general are, ironically imo, quite bad at humility with a few exceptions and Calvinists tend to be among the worst. And unlike George Herbert, to call a man like John Donne “humble”, either in style or in character, is to require so many modifications that the word basically loses all meaning. However, even amidst his highly metaphysical wit there is a certain lowliness that epitomizes Calvinist aesthetics, whether or not that aesthetic is actually translated into lived action. A key motif of the Early Jesus Movement was the reference of the believer as a “slave of the Lord”, beginning with Mary of Nazareth and continuing with Jacob, Paul, and Peter’s epistles. And that motif is strong in Calvinist poetry: there is fervent understanding that we are horribly cycled in sin and that we stand completely at the mercy of God, entirely dependent on him for rest and peace and comfort. And aesthetically it is always sublime, without fail. If High Church architecture draws me towards Catholicism and Orthodoxy, then it could be said that poetry at least makes me have a deeper appreciation for Calvinism.