[HPforGrownups] Calvinism

[Aberforth's Goat]

No: HPFGUIDX 23583

Catlady mewed,

> I don't know enough about Calvinism to understand what you are
> suggesting, so please explain. What I have heard about Calvinism is 1)
> predestination, 2) justification by faith not works.

I was referring to (1). The school division, with the good guys in
Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor and the bad guys in Slytherin, suggests
a kind of predestination.

Put roughly <Ham fisted caricature mode ON>, predestination teaches that
some humans have been endowed with grace, while others haven't. Those who
have will find their way to the sheep fold; those who haven't will roast
with the goats. <Ham fisted caricature mode OFF>.

Back to the Potterverse: I'm still wondering whether the same applies. There
are a number of signs that the people who go to G-R-H always turn out good,
whereas those who go to S always turn out bad. If so, Potter lives in a
strange place. Distinguishing between the elect and the reprobate has always
proved tricky in our world, since only God really knows what's on the
books--but in Harry's world you would just have to check out a guy's school
transcripts for a read on his fundamental moral status.

That leads to the two questions on my mind: (1) Is Potter's world really
this way? I don't see Pettigrew as a sign to the contrary, since there's a
good chance that he'll repent of his evil in time for a hero's burial.
(Calvinism doesn't say the elect can't meander off the straight and
narrow--they just have a way of finding their home again.) That Percy is
obnoxious and Justin Finch-Fletchley callow is even less of a problem.
("Elect" and "pleasant" aren't meant to be synonyms.) I'd say Snape is the
closest thing to a negative test case--but only Jo and Amanda can figure out
what's happening in his twisted psyche. Still, this question admits to a lot
of debate. (NB: all the sorting hat says about Slytherins is that they're
cunning, power-hungry and ambitious, not that they're evil.)

(2) Would it bother us if the people in Harry's world have a fixed--and
manifest--moral destiny? Would Jo's world be more or less appealing to us if
we knew that the canon Draco is basically and inalterably evil and headed
for the sulfurous pit? Would we be disappointed to assume that Harry not
only won't wander over to the dark side, but *can't*  because he's basically
and inalterably good? This may be more of a philosophical question than an
aesthetic one, but it would certainly impinge on the books' universal
appeal.

Those are the questions that are bugging me.

Baaaaaa!

Aberforth's Goat (a.k.a. Mike Gray)
_______________________

"Of course, I'm not entirely sure he can read, so that may not have been
bravery...."