Creative Christian Inquirers: Herman Melville and Henry Whitney Bellows

Abstract:This essay offers heretofore unexplored outlooks on the compatibility of newspaper columns by Unitarian minister Henry Whitney Bellows (1814–1882) and the artistic creativity of Herman Melville. I argue that Bellows's effort to reconcile the best features of Unitarianism and Calvinism corresponds to Melville's mercurial literary renderings of liberal and orthodox doctrine. I likewise explore the impact that the New York Christian Inquirer—for which Bellows was lead editor from 1846 to 1850, and a frequent contributor thereafter—had in encouraging Unitarianism to evolve from a sect that rejected the tenets of Calvinism into one that welcomed the best features of pietism. This study therefore has pertinence for scholars of Herman Melville and for students of American church history.