A New Kind of Calvinism

In her review of the recently released The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, Books & Culture, January/February 2007, pages 12-13, Sarah Hinlicky Wilson makes some interesting observations about the decade-long comic strip that had a profound influence on our culture. I have always loved Calvin & Hobbes and felt that Bill Watterson had a keen sense of American culture and critiqued it in a humorous, yet profound way.

Here are a few of her observations that I enjoyed:

“Hobbes…is neither Calvin’s better half nor his psychopomp. He is evry bit the rascal that Calvin is, though considerably more disguised in his misdeeds, especially in a rousing game of Calvinball or the at the sight of Susi Derkins. If Calvin is the unrepentant sinner, the ethicists will observe, then Hobbes is the Pharisee, smug of his virtuous living and immensely proud of not being human.”

“Is it right to charge ten billion dollars for a dinosaur skeleton constructed from backyard trash? Is it wrong to steal a truck from a bully if he stole it from you first? How about the quandaries raised by recent advances in corrugated cardboard technology? One must consider what benefits could be gained for science by transmogrifying oneself into a 500-story tall gastropd, a slug the size of the Chrysler building. One must decide whether the duplicator is better used as a counterfeit money machine or as a clone generator to supply oneself with a baseball team. What if the duplicator has an ethicator tacked on—and what if one’s good side is prone to badness?”

“The lure of a slushball square in Susie’s face confronts his limitless greed in an epic struggle. Calvin therefore tries to rationalize. It should count for more if a bad kid tries to be good than if a naturally good kid is good. Ten spontaneous, if reluctant, acts of good will a day should compensate for a year’s sordid sin. Relinquishing retaliation rights on Susie should produce [Christmas] presents by the truckload (never mind that Calvin provoked her in the first place and lied to Mom about it). Still, every Christmas without fail, Calvin is acquitted of his crimes and showered with gifts, even when he learns the wrong lesson from it. A parable of God’s love for the sinner and justification by faith, no works, the theologians infer—good Calvinism, indeed.”



Sorry, but I couldn’t find the article on the website. It must be only available in the print version.