In
Calvinist theology, lapsarianism is the study of the logical order of
God's
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
decree
A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...
to ordain
the fall of man
The fall of man, the fall of Adam, or simply the Fall, is a term used in Christianity to describe the transition of the first man and woman from a state of innocent obedience to God to a state of guilty disobedience.
*
*
*
* The doctrine of the ...
in relation to his decree to save some sinners through
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
and condemn others through
reprobation
Reprobation, in Christian theology, is a doctrine which teaches that a person can reject the gospel to a point where God in turn rejects them and curses their conscience. The English word ''reprobate'' is from the Latin root ''probare'' (''Engl ...
. Several opposing positions have been proposed, all of which have names with the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
root ''lapsus'' (meaning fall).
Supralapsaranism and infralapsarianism assert that election and reprobation respectively preceded and succeeded the Fall. Paedolapsarianism and credolapsarianism assert to whom baptism should be administered and the
kingdom of heaven
Kingdom of Heaven may refer to:
Religious
* Kingdom of Heaven (Gospel of Matthew)
**Kingship and kingdom of God, or simply Kingdom of God, the phrase used in the other gospels
* Kingdom of Heaven (Daviesite), a schismatic sect, founded by Will ...
belongs, respectively arguing for children of believers and adults.
Overview
Supralapsarianism (also called ''antelapsarianism'', ''pre-lapsarianism'' or ''prelapsarianism'') is the view that God's decrees of election and reprobation logically ''preceded'' the decree of the Fall. Infralapsarianism (also called ''postlapsarianism'' and ''sublapsarianism'') asserts that God's decrees of election and reprobation logically ''succeeded'' the decree of the Fall. The words can also be used in connection with other topics, e.g. supra- and infralapsarian
Christology
In Christianity, Christology (from the Ancient Greek, Greek grc, Χριστός, Khristós, label=none and grc, wiktionary:-λογία, -λογία, wiktionary:-logia, -logia, label=none), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Chr ...
.
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). Infralapsarianism teaches that all men are sinful by nature (due to the Fall), are thereby condemned through our own sin (
free will
Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded.
Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actio ...
), and that God had
foreknowledge
Foreknowledge is knowledge regarding future events. It may also refer to:
* Foresight (disambiguation)
* Precognition - prior viewing of some future event
* Knowledge of predestination
* Prediction or forecasting – calculated, informed or unin ...
of whom He would rescue from condemnation. The infralapsarianist view follows Ephesians 1:4-6, "... even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved" (ESV). That is, some are chosen to be elect (foreknowledge) but not created elect.
Many Calvinists reject both lapsarian views for various reasons.
Herman Bavinck
Herman Bavinck (13 December 1854 – 29 July 1921) was a Dutch Calvinist theologian and churchman. He was a significant scholar in the Calvinist tradition, alongside Abraham Kuyper and B. B. Warfield.
Biography Background
Bavinck was bor ...
rejected both because he sees the entire system of God's plan of salvation as organic, with each part mutually dependent and determinative, rather than some parts "causing" others. Other Calvinists (and many non-Calvinists) reject the lapsarian views because they perceive any particular ordering of the decrees as unnecessary and presumptive speculation. Critics of lapsarianism often argue that it is impossible to conceive of a temporal process by which God, in eternity, issued decrees, and it is impossible to know the mind of God without direct, scriptural documentation.
Kingdom of Heaven and object of baptism
Paedolapsarianism (also called minorlapsarianism) is the view that God decreed that children of believers are the epitome of whom the Kingdom of Heaven belongs and are the proper object of baptism before He decreed election, reprobation, and the fall. This view was mainly promoted by Athenorian, Bishop Orihet.
Credolapsarianism (also called larguslapsarianism) is the view that God decreed after the fall that adults only are those to whom the Kingdom of Heaven belongs and should be the object of baptism. This view was mainly promoted by Polysephus.
According to the tenth canon of the Council of Corinth (447), the Church anathematizes anyone who denies the doctrine of paedolapsarianism.
History
The first to articulate the supralapsarian view were
Theodore Beza
Theodore Beza ( la, Theodorus Beza; french: Théodore de Bèze or ''de Besze''; June 24, 1519 – October 13, 1605) was a French Calvinist Protestant theologian, reformer and scholar who played an important role in the Protestant Reformatio ...
and
Jerome Zanchius
Girolamo Zanchi (Latin "Hieronymus Zanchius," thus Anglicized to "Jerome Zanchi/Zanchius"; February 2, 1516 – November 19, 1590) was an Italian Protestant Reformation clergyman and educator who influenced the development of Reformed theology dur ...
.
A few later Calvinists - in particular those influenced by Beza's theology - embraced supralapsarianism. In England Beza's influence was felt at Cambridge, where
William Perkins and
William Ames
William Ames (; Latin: ''Guilielmus Amesius''; 157614 November 1633) was an English Puritan minister, philosopher, and controversialist. He spent much time in the Netherlands, and is noted for his involvement in the controversy between the Cal ...
held to it, as well as
Franciscus Gomarus
Franciscus Gomarus (François Gomaer; 30 January 1563 – 11 January 1641) was a Dutch theologian, a strict Calvinist and an opponent of the teaching of Jacobus Arminius (and his followers), whose theological disputes were addressed at the Synod ...
in the Netherlands. Later,
William Twisse
William Twisse (1578 near Newbury, England – 20 July 1646) was a prominent English clergyman and theologian. He was named Prolocutor of the Westminster Assembly in an Ordinance dated 12 June 1643, putting him at the head of the churchmen o ...
wrote two comprehensive books on supralapsarianism, one in Latin entitled ''Vindiciae Gratiae, Potestatis, Et Providentiae Dei'' and a shorter but lengthy English work entitled ''The Riches of God's Love unto the Vessels of Mercy.'' In the last century, the most recent proponents of supralapsarianism include
Abraham Kuyper
Abraham Kuyper (; ; 29 October 1837 – 8 November 1920) was the Prime Minister of the Netherlands between 1901 and 1905, an influential neo-Calvinist theologian and a journalist. He established the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, which upo ...
,
Herman Hoeksema
Herman Hoeksema (13 March 1886 in Hoogezand – 2 September 1965 in Grand Rapids) was a Dutch Reformed theologian. Hoeksema served as a long time pastor of the First Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids. In 1924 he refused to accept the three ...
,
Arthur Pink
Arthur Walkington Pink (1 April 1886 – 15 July 1952) was an English Bible teacher who sparked a renewed interest in the exposition of Calvinism or Reformed Theology. Little known in his own lifetime, Pink became "one of the most influential ...
,
Gordon Clark
Gordon Haddon Clark (August 31, 1902 – April 9, 1985) was an American philosopher and Calvinist theologian. He was a leading figure associated with presuppositional apologetics and was chairman of the Philosophy Department at Butler Univer ...
. Historically, it is estimated that less than 5% of all Calvinists have been Supralapsarian.
Also according to
Loraine Boettner
Loraine Boettner (; March 7, 1901 – January 3, 1990) was an American theologian, teacher, and author in the Reformed tradition. He is best known for his works on predestination, Roman Catholicism, and Postmillennial eschatology.
Biography
Boett ...
and Curt Daniel, no major Reformed theologian and very few modern Calvinists are supralapsarian.
The infralapsarianism view seems to be expressed in the
Synod of Dort
The Synod of Dort (also known as the Synod of Dordt or the Synod of Dordrecht) was an international Synod held in Dordrecht in 1618–1619, by the Dutch Reformed Church, to settle a divisive controversy caused by the rise of Arminianism. The fi ...
in 1618. In the
Canons of Dort
The Canons of Dort, or Canons of Dordrecht, formally titled The Decision of the Synod of Dort on the Five Main Points of Christian doctrine, Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands, is the judgment of the National Synod held in the Netherlands, Dut ...
, First Point of Doctrine, Article 7, it states:
However the Synod did not reject those who held to a supralapsarian position, as illustrated in the trial held against
Johannes Maccovius
Johannes Maccovius (1588 – 24 June 1644), also known as Jan Makowski, was a Polish Reformed theologian.
Early travels and personal life
Makowski was born in Lobzenica, Poland. After visiting various universities (1607 in Danzig, 1610 in Marbu ...
and his eventual exoneration concerning his views on sin in the divine decree. Other supralapsarians at the Synod included
Franciscus Gomarus
Franciscus Gomarus (François Gomaer; 30 January 1563 – 11 January 1641) was a Dutch theologian, a strict Calvinist and an opponent of the teaching of Jacobus Arminius (and his followers), whose theological disputes were addressed at the Synod ...
,
William Ames
William Ames (; Latin: ''Guilielmus Amesius''; 157614 November 1633) was an English Puritan minister, philosopher, and controversialist. He spent much time in the Netherlands, and is noted for his involvement in the controversy between the Cal ...
, and
Gisbertus Voetius
Gisbertus Voetius ( Latinized version of the Dutch name Gijsbert Voet ; 3 March 1589 – 1 November 1676) was a Dutch Calvinist theologian.
Life
He was born at Heusden, in the Dutch Republic, studied at Leiden, and in 1611 became Protestant past ...
, none of whom took exception to the
Canons of Dort
The Canons of Dort, or Canons of Dordrecht, formally titled The Decision of the Synod of Dort on the Five Main Points of Christian doctrine, Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands, is the judgment of the National Synod held in the Netherlands, Dut ...
.
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 example of
William Twisse
William Twisse (1578 near Newbury, England – 20 July 1646) was a prominent English clergyman and theologian. He was named Prolocutor of the Westminster Assembly in an Ordinance dated 12 June 1643, putting him at the head of the churchmen o ...
may be interesting to many given some of emphases, which may not be as unique to him historically speaking.
Concerning his doctrine of salvation, Twisse was explicitly and staunchly supralapsarian. But anyone who may read his works would be struck by how difficult it is to make him fit into a received definition of supralapsarianism. He held to the classic supralapsarianism dictum: "Quod primum est in intentione, ultimum est in executione...quod ultimum est in executione, primum est in intentione" (that which is first in intention is last in execution...that which is last in execution is first in intention) and stressed these repeatedly in his writings.
A general claim that most supralapsarians would have held to is the following:
The result or final intention of the divine decree is the manifestation of God's glory particularly through the application of divine mercy upon some and divine justice upon others. God's mercy is shown to some in both the forgiveness of those guilty of imputed and actual sin and the bestowal of eternal life. On the other hand, God's justice is shown in the permitting of those who are guilty of imputed and actual sin to continue on their chosen path and the bestowal of divine judgment for their unrepentant disobedience. As the manifestation of glory through mercy and justice is the final intention, given the dictum, it is the last set of elements to come to pass within history, or last in execution. What is not so clear is how supralapsarians saw the means playing out to this final end.
Infralapsarians regarded the Fall as an occasion for election and reprobation, choosing some out of a fallen mass and passing by others. As one would expect from a supralapsarian, Twisse maintained that the Fall did not occasion election or reprobation. But he also did not believe that the gulf between infra- and supralapsarians was that extensive, thus stating that the differences between the two was “meerely Logicall." 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.
He cited from Thomas Aquinas repeatedly to the effect that “reprobation includeth the will of God of permitting sin, and of inferring damnation for sin.” Concomitant to this, he claimed that “God neither damnes nor decrees to damne any man, but for sinne and finall perseverance therein”.
It may seem that Twisse was performing double-talk at this point as a supralapsarian, but Twisse himself maintained that “not one of our divines, that I know, doth maintaine that God did ever purpose to inflict damnation, but for sin."
What needs to be made clear at this point is that Twisse did not separate the object decreed from how it is that it comes to pass (modus res) and on the flip side, that the one divine decree had several elements each with its own integrity. The decree is unconditional and will be fulfilled accordingly, but fulfillment does not carry the same means in each object within the one decree: differing objects within the decree have differing modes of agency and thus differing modes of fulfillment.
Election and reprobation are within the decree intended for the final end, but the means through which this final end is brought about is not immediately present within the eternal decree itself. This is manifested within history. Reprobation is thus not an ordination to damnation nakedly considered. It is a decree to deny saving grace within time. In such a state, an individual sinner would receive punishment for their sins. The decree does not necessitate them to sin (as choices the creature makes are contingent and belong to them) nor does it directly prevent them from saving faith and repentance. Reprobation is not an act of divine justice, but a decree that divine justice will be given to some createable and fallible persons who in time will be fallen. Election for Twisse, unlike that of the infralapsarians, is itself not an act of grace, but an election for some createable and fallible persons to receive grace leading to saving faith and repentance in while fallen in time. Equally then, election thus was not an act of mercy, as it is with infralapsarians, but a determination that some will receive mercy in time. Election, reprobation, the Fall, mercy, and justice are coordinate elements within the one divine decree. Election and reprobation do not occasion the Fall, nor does the Fall occasion election and reprobation, but they are coordinate elements logically ordered for purpose of manifesting divine glory.
An interesting point to be made regarding Twisse concerning both how supralapsarians have been understood historically and just how consistent Twisse was in relating the decree to the object decreed is that he was simultaneously a supralapsarian and a hypothetical universalist.
Notes
References
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{{Hamartiology
Calvinist theology
Christian terminology