The Necessity and Detriment of Shame as Presented in John Calvin\u27s Institutes

In this senior thesis, I aim to explore the presence of shame in John Calvin\u27s 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\u27s Institutes, its application to Aristotelian ethics, and its consistencies (or lack thereof) with the biblical story of Genesis, I found that Calvin\u27s 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\u27s 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