Theological glossary · FaithLogic

Predestination

God's determining beforehand the destiny of people — in Scripture, chiefly his marking out of the elect for adoption and glory.

Latin praedestinatio; Greek proorizō, 'to mark out / determine beforehand' (Acts 4:28; Rom 8:29–30; Eph 1:5, 11).

Romans 8:29–30; Ephesians 1:5, 11; Acts 4:28; 1 Corinthians 2:7.

Debated as ante praevisa merita (before foreseen merits — Thomists, Calvinists) or post praevisa merita (in view of them — some later scholastics, Arminians); 'single' predestination (God elects some; the rest are simply left) vs. 'double' (God decrees both election and reprobation, with or without symmetry). Calvin held a form of double predestination; the Lutheran Formula of Concord XI affirms predestination unto salvation only, with no decree of reprobation.

In Ephesians 1 predestination is 'for adoption' and 'according to the purpose of his will', and the passage is a doxology, not a speculative scheme.

Single vs. double; conditional vs. unconditional; supralapsarian vs. infralapsarian ordering of the decrees; whether the concept impugns God's justice or love.

Open in the glossary for related terms and the doctrines this concept appears in.