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Prevenient grace (or preceding grace or enabling grace) is a Christian theological concept that refers to the grace of God in a person's life which precedes and prepares to conversion. The concept was first developed by Augustine of Hippo (354–430), was affirmed by the Second Council of Orange (529) and has become part of Catholic theology.
Free grace theologies hold that things such as turning from sin, baptism, or perseverance in the faith are not necessary for salvation, but instead hold that these things are necessary for eternal rewards. [97] Free grace writers generally agree that good works do not play a role in meriting, maintaining, or proving eternal life.
Semi-Pelagian thought teaches that the latter half – growing in faith – is the work of God, while the beginning of faith is an act of free will, with grace supervening only later. [ 1 ] The term "semi-Pelagianism", a 16th-century coinage, is considered a misnomer by many modern scholars."Semi-Pelagianism" has frequently been used in a ...
When Pelagius appealed to St. Ambrose (c. 339 – c. 397) to support his view, Augustine replied with a series of quotations from Ambrose which indicated the need for prevenient grace. [64] Augustine described free will without the spiritual aid of grace as, "captive free will" (Latin: liberum arbitrium captivatum). [65]
Unconditional election (also called sovereign election [1] or unconditional grace) is a Calvinist doctrine relating to predestination that describes the actions and motives of God prior to his creation of the world, when he predestined some people to receive salvation, the elect, and the rest he left to continue in their sins and receive the just punishment, eternal damnation, for their ...
Augustine argued that prevenient grace is necessary to prepare the human will for conversion. [28] He maintained that God predetermined parents to seek baptism for their newborns, linking water baptism to regeneration. [29] Furthermore, he viewed the divine grace that brings about conversion as unfailing. [30] [31] [32]
The second century document Martyrdom of Polycarp said that Christ "suffered for the world of the saved", which can be interpreted to support an idea like limited atonement, however it is not certain to teach a form of particular redemption and the book can also be understood in other ways, which do not necessate the view of limited atonement.
This article asserts that once God's prevenient grace has enabled a man to believe, man can resist God's grace by exercising his free will. It rejects the idea that justifying grace is irresistible. [8] [10] [13]