Spanlleim, Fr. Then, whether one is fallen or unfallen is really beside the point. The difficulty in ascertaining an historical supralapsarian position is that while many supralapsarians may have held similar positions with regard to the ordering of the decree, the actual object and subject of predestination may differ among many. The two terms infra- and supralapsarianism were directly related to the decree of predestination. Himself and take upon flesh and dwelt amongst us; AND we beheld His GLORY,glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. [7], However the Synod did not reject those who held to a supralapsarian position, as illustrated in the trial held against Johannes Maccovius and his eventual exoneration concerning his views on sin in the divine decree. If God is eternal, pure, infinite, and holy, then he is set apart from creation (including time). I appreciate this blog. Stay simple and plain brother! Knowing the Gospel with the Lord means knowing with the Lord that the Lord, out of the mystery of His position in glory, has indeed moved to incarnate communication of the things of His grace to His people, at a one to one level with them on the earth (which pro Supra types may struggle with from time to time). Robert L. Dabney pointed out the essential unity of Gods decree: Gods decree has no succession; and to Him no successive order of parts, because Gods will is one infinite intuition.1 However, while this unity of God is acknowledged, it remains true that Scripture does speak to the purpose of God in relating one thing to another. The reference in Romans 9:11, infralapsarians argue, is simply a statement about meritneither son was more deserving of salvation than the otherand has nothing to do with the decrees. Gods decree to elect certain fallen people to salvation by grace in Christ and reprobate others to just condemnation. Is predestination biblical. There can be no chronological ordering for the reasons you give. "[10] Although he did not believe that the Fall occasioned election and reprobation, he did not maintain that election and reprobation had no regard for the Fall whatsoever. The Westminster Divines made much room in their reflection on Scripture with the Lord to consider the extent to which the Lord has clearly revealed His standards of predestination in His inscribed Word and the extent to which He has left predestination a mystery. The difference between the two views are minute; supralapsarianism, by virtue of its belief that God creates the elect and reprobate, is a suggestion or provides an inference that at some level, God is the author of sin (because He creates sinners to condemnation). By contrast, the infra position highlights the mercy of God. Isaak A. Dorner: The Triune God and the Gospel of Salvation Throughout Christian history theologians have agreed that God's decision to become incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ was made necessary by humanity's fall from grace. Hi, Tony. Time is not the issue. First, all the angels who stood firm were elect. van Driel And most importantly, the Lord wants us to know satisfaction with Him at an earthly level, in our reconciling of our human identities, our Adam and Eve identities, into covenant cross-centered relationship with Him. With the above information in mind, the question of supralapsarianism versus infralapsarianism cannot be worked through logically as it cannot be comprehended and if it could, it still would be counter to any sort of logic to place Gods decrees within the context of time if they took place in eternity. But this itself cannot occur apart from the permission of God's decree. Thank you for your post, Tony. Theological Primer: Supralapsarianism and Infralapsarianism The History of the Reformation Part II: Supralapsarian and Infralapsarian The aim is clarity. It is important to remember, as you have demonstrated, that the ordering of Gods decree is not temporal. Thankful to God He allowed me to stumble on this blog, its been helpful for my studies on the the two positions, I do stand on supra over infra seeing that it is has a more solid argument that are lined up most closely with Scriptures. Specifically, which is logically prior: the decree of election and reprobation, or the decree to create the world and permit the fall? The Westminster Divines answer seems to show a sort of wiggle room for the Infra position, at least in attempting to harmonize this position with the Supra position. In the last century, the most recent proponents of supralapsarianism include Abraham Kuyper, Herman Hoeksema, Arthur Pink, Gordon Clark. Supralapsarianism and Infralapsarianism | Ligonier Ministries In eternity, did God choose to elect His people to salvation based on His decision to permit humanity's fall into sin, or was it the other way around? Accordingly, this definition of predestination allowed for the supralapsarian position; there is no need to presume the fall of mankind for the decree of predestinationthough one could just as easily assume the object of predestination to be fallen humanity and maintain the infralapsarian position even when predestination was primarily about the end of eternal life.
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