Donne, Calvin, and Massa Damnata

Abstract

During the early 1620`s, the Church of England was the site of escalating religious conflict between the Calvinists and the Arminians. The Arminians and William Laud, the Bishop of Bath and Welles, were gaining power during this period while the Calvinists were growing out of favor with Charles I. The Arminians and Laudians articulated a position on free will and grace that was opposed to the Calvinist doctrines of election and limited atonement that was reflected in the English Church`s Thirty-nine Articles of Religion. As an ordained priest and later the Dean of St. Paul`s, Donne was often divided between theological straits in regard to such religious doctrines but did not waver in regard to the doctrine of original sin. Borrowing from Augustine, Donne labeled humanity as massa damnata (the mass of the damned) in reference to the sinful nature of mankind. But more radical than the Augustinian view of the nature of man, Donne reflected a more Calvinistic view of mankind in the form of total depravity. Though Donne held doctrinal positions that were associated with Arminian as well as Calvinist doctrines, he firmly upheld in his Sermons, the Calvinist doctrine of total depravity and humanity`s inability to contribute to the process of salvation.