Calvinism, Catholicism, And the American Experiment: What Is the Question?(Critical Essay‪)‬

One of the important inhabitants in the fantasy world of academia--admittedly something of a dull though creepy place--is the good (if not great) idea and title of a book or journal article conceived but never written. My own favorite not-yet published (nor written) article is entitled "Avery Dulles: Model Catholic Theologian." Father Dulles's clear, articulate, and stimulating paper--raising all the important issues and providing thoughtful suggestions and answers--was one more demonstration that he is not only a model theologian but a master teacher and effective pastor. I am truly honored to share this platform with him today. The question that Father Dulles raises can be rephrased: "Can a good Roman Catholic also be a good American, fit for public office, even, let us say, to be President?" Thankfully, for us in 1998, thirty-eight years after it was a significant issue in a Presidential campaign (and thirty-eight years after the publication of John Courtney Murray's We Hold These Truths), to ask the question as directly as I just have, seems itself to be remarkable. "Can a Catholic be President?" Is it not an odd question? Has a similar question ever been asked about other Christian traditions in America? How about: "Can a Calvinist Presbyterian possibly be President?" Did anyone ever consider Woodrow Wilson thus religiously disqualified? Or, "Can an Anglican (okay, let us be devious and disguise them by calling them Episcopalians)--can an Episcopalian be President?" It was never asked of President Bush, was it? How about a Methodist, a Mormon? Or, "Can a Southern Baptist be President?" (Actually, now that we know the answer to that one, it probably will be asked, down the road.)