ABSTRACT
Antinomians carried the Calvinist doctrine of Election to the extreme position that the moral law was transcended by faith and Elect free to act as they wished, even beyond the law. The duality of Robert Wringhim, self-justifying Calvinist Christian, and his devilish counterpart is resolved as the perverted Christian is fully satanized and en route to hell. Scottish fiction would never lose its sense of the past but its focus was shifting from consideration of history to analysis of contemporary social mores and conditions. The microcosm of Dalmailing reverberates to events in the greater world beyond the parish as Scotland wakes 'from a long rural sleep to the promise of industry and commerce'. Mary Douglas's infectious enjoyment of the contrast between provincial Scottish behaviour and English suavity is responsible for much of the appeal of Marriage. Douglas's Christianity is practical: her values work, she gets her man, and it is clear that he will be greater beneficiary of the marriage.
