Predestination and Certainty of Salvation

in Augustine and Calvin

by MARK E. V ANDERSCHAAF
Ca lvin 's doc tin e o f predes tin ati on is oft en referred to as" A ugustini an." Ind eed ,
Ca lvin himself readil y ac kn owl edged hi s ti es with A ugustine, exc laiming in one di s-
cuss ion of predes tination: " Augustine is so mu ch at one wi t h me th at , if I wi shed to
w rit e a co nfessio n of fa ith , it wo ul d abund antl y sa ti sfy me to qu ote w holesa le from hi s
writi ngs." ' In ge neral , t he labe l is ju st ifi ed. Ca lvin c learl y shared A ugustin e's con-
victi o n t hat fa ll en man ca n do nothing to initiate hi s sa lva ti on ; rath er God unco ndi -
ti onall y elects cert ain indi vidu als w ho, moved by ir res istibl e grace , per severe to th e
sa lva ti on to w hic h they are ca ll ed .
T he t hes is of thi s paper , however , is th at th e similarit y betwee n A ugustine and
Ca lvin should not be all owed to over shadow fund amenta l di ffe rences betw een th eir
doct rin es of predes tin ation . W e will exa min e th ese differences and will di scover th at
t here is a ruling purpose behind Ca lvin 's departures from Au gustin e. Spec ifi ca ll y ,
Ca lv in used th e doctrin e of predes tin ation to prov id e Chri sti ans w ith ce rtainty of sa l-
vati on and un shakeabl e confid ence in th e grac ious purposes of Goel: in A ugustin e' s
th eo logy ce rtaint y and confidence are not emphas ized and are eve n frow ned upon. 2
T he logica l place to begin our d isc uss ion is w ith predestin ati on as it relates to th e
creati o n and fa ll of man . W e find th at fo r A ugustin e th ere is no predes tin ati o n until
aft er t he fa ll of man. In th e word s of Euge ne TeSell e, " It is onl y in co nn ec ti on w i th th e
wo rk of redempti on that we encounter th e probl em of predestin ati o n. T he herit age of
sin is a res ult of hum an freedom , not of di v ine o rd ering. ":J A ugustin e limit s predestin a-
t io n to th e di vine preparation of ce rtain indi v idu als to rece ive th e gra ce necessa ry for
sal va ti on and thu s assoc iates it onl y with God 's mercy . " Bet wee n grace and predes-
tin ation is only thi s di ffe rence , t hat predes tin ati on i s th e preparation fo r grS\ce, w hil e
grace is th e do nati on itself. '"'
A ugustin e's doc trin e of th e crea ti on and fa ll of man was intend ed to preclud e th e
tw o mos t likely ex pl anati ons of th e so urce of ev il and sin , namely th e ex pl anati o n th at
sees ev il ari sing ultim ately from God and th e M anich aea n expl anati on that pl aces th e
so urce of ev il o uts ide of God . A dam , according to Au gustin e, was c reated good . H e
was end owed w ith an ad equ ate kno wl edge o f God , hi s proper end , and a good w ill abl e
to cling to th at end . In th e Augustini an psychology Ad am could abandon hi s proper
end only throu gh ignorance of intell ect or wea kne ss of will. " H ow th en is it po ss ibl e
th at he in fact fell into sin by an act of di sobedience root ed in th e attitude of pride,
" the craving for undu e exaltation . .. wh en th e soul abandon s Him to wh om it ought
to clea ve as its encl , and becomes a kind of encl to itse lf" ?';
A ugustine's answer to thi s qu esti o n qu alifi es hi s noti on of man's ori ginal good
will. C onsidered purel y as created nature devoid of God 's grace, Ad am 's w ill w as
adequ ate to cling to God onl y in th e abse nce of competin g ev il influ ences. Since suc h
influ ences ex isted eve n in parad ise, grace was necessary fo r A dam to rema in sinless.
God gra nted Adam grace, enough to enab le him to avo id sin (poss e 11011 p ecc are ) but
not eno ught to make him unabl e to si n (11 0 11 posse p ecc are).
T he first man had not that grace by which he should never wi ll to be
ev il ; but assured l y he had that in w hic h ifhe w ill ed to ab id e he wo uld neve r
be ev il , and without w hic h , m oreover, he could not by free w ill be good,
but which , neve rth eless , by free w ill he could forsake. God , therefore ,
did not wi ll eve n him to be without Hi s grace, which H e left in hi s free wi ll ;
becau se free will is suffic ient fo r ev il ; but i s too littl e fo r good , unl ess it
is aid ed by Omnipotent Good. 7
T he final qu esti on th at mu st be ask ed of A ugustin e is what is th e source of th e
influ ences that led to Adam 's downfall ?" Augustine remain s tru e to hi s desire to avo id
both Manichae ism and the at tributi on of ev il to God . Rather , he focuses on th e C hri s-
ti an teaching th at God c rea ted th e wo rld ex 11ihi/o and gi ves thi s doctrine a neoplato nic
interpretation to so lve th e problem of ev il.
Behold , th en , ev il ari ses out of good ; nor was there any other source, in-
deed , whence it could ari se, but out of good. I call th at wi ll bad which no
ev il has preceded ; no ev il works , of course, sin ce th ey on ly proceed from
an ev il will , as from a corrupt tree. N everth eless, th at th e ev il w ill arose
out of good , could not be , because th at good was made by the good God,
but beca use it was c reated out of not hing-not out of God.'1
A ll creat ures reta in a tend ency to reve rt to the nothin gness out of which th ey were
made. This tendency m akes sin a necessary po ss ibility in nature and in th e case of
A dam it res ulted in hi s pridefu l turning from God.
Now, nature co uld not have bee n depraved by vice had it not been made
out of nothin g. Co nseq uently , that it is a nature, thi s is because it is mad e
by God; but that it falls away from Him, thi s is because it is made out of
nothing. 10
As i s we ll known , A ugustine taught that Adam's sin impaired not only hi s own
nature but human nature in general. Fo r Augustine thi s impairment consists not only
of pain and death (the r es ult s of sin traditionally accepted by th e Church Fath er s) but
of so met hing eve n more seriou s. T he relat ionship between man's higher powers and
hi s lower powers was damaged to the extent that man is now unable to order hi s life to
the att ainment o f hi s proper end. Fa ilure to cl ing t o God is sin and thu s gu ilt is inherit ed
along with pain and death .
It came by th e freedom of c ho ice th at man w as with sin ; but a penal cor-
ruption closel y followed thereon, and out of the li berty produced neces-
sity ... With th ese necess ities upon us, we areeither unab le to under stand
what we want or else (whi le hav ing th e wish) we are not strong enough to
acco mpli sh what we have come to und er stand."
It i s out of thi s nwssa damnata of humanity th at God now predestin es so me to
sal va tion . It is important to remember th at stri ctly spea king predestin ation only co n-
cern s sa lv ati on for A ugustine. Two aspects of Augustine's writing hav e occasionally
led to a mi sund er standing of thi s point. First , Augustine occas ionally speaks of t he
predes tinati on of th e damned . Fo r exampl e, in De C i1 ·itate D e i he menti o ns " th e two
cities, or th e two communities of men , of whi c h th e one is predestin ed to reign etern all y
with God, th e other to suffer eternal puni shment with th e devil. ' ' ' 2 Second l y, Augus-

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tine developed a strong doctrine of Providence , allowing him to say that "t ho se which
follow the world are so ent irely at the disposal of God, th at H e turn s th em whith er-
soever He will s." ' 3 In both cases w e must keep in mind what we have already dis-
cussed ; these action s of God are posterior to a condition which H e permitted but did
not cause to exist, name ly the condition of a sinful hum anity deri ving from Adam. 1•1
By view ing predestination as infralapsarian el ection to salvation Augustine is
ab le to pre serve the goodness of God. But th e price for thi s accompli shment is more
than Ca lvin is willing to pay . August ine's formula depend s upon a divi sion of th e will -
ing and ac ting of God into two distinct parts. On the one hand is God th e Creator of
nature. As suc h, God is perfectly good but limited in what He ca n do. It is in fact ini-
po ss ible fol' God to create a nat ure th at as 11at11re is impervi o us to ev il influence. In -
sofar as creation is mad e out of noth ing it retain s th e inh erent tendenc y to fa ll away
from God toward not hingness.
O n the ot her hand God is th e bestower of grace. A s such, God is ab l e to co unt er-
ac t the ev il tendencie s in nature through th e addit ion of th e gift of grace. Hi s goodness
is preserved since his prede stination is strictly grac iou s. But th e price is the lessen ing
of hi s direct control over the uni verse. He is placed in the po sition of reac ting to things
wh ic h He did not cause rather th an fulfilling a definite and unified pl an .
Ca l vin cons istently avo id s th e kind of duali sm that A ugust ine utili zes in hi s doc-
trine of predestination. For Ca lvin , created nature is not inh erentl y subj ect to ev il
tendenc ies which can only be co unteract ed by the added gift of grace. God could ha ve
made human nature in suc h a way that it would have been unabl e to sin : that He did
not is du e on ly to hi s hidden plan.' "
Similarly Calvin st rongly rejec ts any v iew of God in w hi ch H e merel y foreknows
and permits ev il to happen and th en react s to ev il condition s for which H e was not
res pon sibl e. For Cal vin , predestination is " th e etemol predestination of God , by
which /Je.fi1re t!t efa /I <~/A dam He dec reed what should take place concerning tlti' 1\'ltcili'
/111111011 rn ci' and e 1·ery i11di1 ·id1wl. " "; (Italics min e.) The co roll ary of thi s is, of co urse,
th e doct rin e of double predestinat io n , a doctrine whi c h Ca lvin readil y affirm ed. Not
onl y th e elect but also th e reprobate are c hosen by God befo re th e fo und ation of
the earth.
In a certa in se nse doubl e predes tination makes God direc tl y res pon sibl e for t he
fa ll of man into sin .
Aga in I ask: w hence does it happen that A dam 's fall irremedi abl y
in vo lved so many peoples, togeth er with the ir in fant offspr ing, in etern al
dea th unl ess because it so pl eased God? H ere th eir tongues, oth er w ise
so loqu ac ious, mu st become mute. T he decree is dread ful ind eed , I co n-
fess. Yet no one ca n deny th at God foreknew wh at end man was to hav e
before he created him , and consequ entl y fo reknew because he so ord ained
by hi s decree. ' 7

But Calv in will not concede that thi s removes human respo nsibility fo r sin . F und a-
mental to hi s analy sis of predestinat io n is a di stin ction between remote and pro x imate
causes w hic h agree in " spl endid and fitting sy mmetry ." 18 T here is only one remote
ca use of all things, th e w ill of Goel. Nevertheless we ca n also und er stand things in the
created realm as arising from proximate causes . In matter s of ev il it is proper to ascri be
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the primary res pon sibility to pro ximate agents wh ereas in matter s of good th e prim ary
res pon sibility mu st be asc ribed to God . God 's ca usa lit y of ev il is paradox ica l ; ev il is
blameworthy but God is blameless. Because we are un abl e to fully under stand how
th e good Goel can be th e ca use of ev il we mu st blame th e prox imate causes of ev il w hil e
recogni zing God 's ultimate control. T hu s th e reprobate are damned because of th eir
prid e and rebelli on aga in st Goel (a lth ough th e remote cau se of th eir rebelli on is th e
w ill of Goel) w hereas th e elec t are saved throu gh th e grace of Goel (a ltho ugh th e prox i-
mate ca use of th eir sa lvation is th eir ac t of fa ith ). ' "
Ca lvin is adamant in affirming t hat Goel ultim ate l y w ill s all things in ord er to bring
glory to him se lf eve n w hen we ca nnot see th e big picture. "So now it is to be main-
tained th at t here is a di ve r si ty of kind s w hile He will s in th e sa me way , so that out of
th e var iety w hic h perpl exes us a harmon y may be bea utifull y contri ved. " 20 H e co mes ,
close to reali zing hi s difference from A ugustin e wh en di sc uss ing thi s topi c.
I w ill not repea t here wit h August ine w hat I yet w illingly acce pt fro m him
as tru e: T here is not hing positi ve in sin and ev il: for thi s subtlety does not
sa ti sf y man y . For my se lf, I take anoth er princ iple: Whatev er thing s are
clon e wrongl y and unju stl y by man , the se ve r y things are th e ri ght and ju st
work s of Goel ." '
It is unfortunate th at Ca l vin did not consider more close l y th e "s ubtlety" of A u-
gustine o n thi s iss ue for it ill ustrates a fundam entally different per spec ti ve in th e two
th in kers. Both A ugustin e and Calvin re veal an interes t in preserving th e glory of Goel.
A ugustin e co nsider s it unfitting th at Goel be mad e th e ca use of ev il and thu s limits
God's predestinati o n to infralapsari an elect ion to sa l va tion . Ca lvin asserts th at in
order for God's glor y to be preser ved he mu st remain always in comp lete contro l of hi s
creation. A ugustine's view entail s a du ali sm of nature and grace w hereas Cal v in is
left with a highl y paradoxica l view of Goel as bot h the ca use of ev il and th e op ponent
of ev il.
But Ca lv in 's doctrin e of predest inat ion does more th an preser ve God 's glor y by
empha sizing hi s co mpl ete o mnipotence. T he omn ipotence of Goel is not a noti o n to be
co nsidered wi th abstrac t indifference. Rath er it ca n on l y be properly under stood by
Chri st ians wh o co nfess th e full im plications of God 's grac iou s and un shakeab le mercy
to wa rd hi s ch ildren .
It is of li ttl e use to talk of th e stability of God's purpose if we do not
relate it to ourse lves. T herefore th e prop het [in Psa lm 33 ] declare s that
tho se whom Goel takes under hi s guardi anship are bl essed because God's
purpose is not hidd en from th em, for it is see n in action in th e safe ty of the
church. A nd so we und erstand that it is not tho se who co nsider God's
power coldl y and w ith indifference. but th ose who apply it to th eir ow n
immediate need , that have a ri ght know ledge of God as th e Pilot of the
world. 22
Thu s Cal vi n reveal s th e c lose connect ion betwee n hi s doctrine of predestination and
hi s nee d for ce rta inty and confid ence in th e grac iou s purposes of Goel.
Thi s connection becomes even more ev id ent when we examin e how both Augus-
tin e and Calvin view th e operation of grace after th e fa ll of man. A ugustin e consistentl y
claim ed th at predestin ation is someth ing th at mu st alway s rema in mysteriou s and
seemingly arbitrary in th e eyes of men. Th is view was considerab ly rei nforced by hi s

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doc trin e of ori ginal sin and hi s doctrin e of bapti sm. Infants are born in original sin and
are thu s worthy of eternal damn ati on in th e eyes of Goel. Acco rding to A ugustin e, th ey
ca n nevertheless be saved through baptism w hic h accounts them among believers " by
virtue of th e sacra ment and th e an swer of th eir sponsor s. " 23 T hi s is predestination in
its mos t mys teriou s, extern al , and see mingly arbitrar y for m . Wh il e some in fa nts perish
without bapt ism other s ar e saved through no action of their ow n. What seems fortuitous
in human eyes takes place throu gh the deli berate c hoice of Goel, however.
You must refer the matter, th en, to th e hidden determination s of
Goel , wh en you see, in one and th e sa me co ndition , such as all infants un-
questionably have,- who derive th eir hereditary ev il from A cl am, -that
th e one is ass isted so as to be bapti zed , and another is not ass isted , so that
he di es in hi s ver y bondage . 2 4
T he ver y inabilit y of infants to do anything to obtain grace was not rega rd ed b y
A ugustine as an exception to th e rul e. Rath er , along with the elect ion o f Jes us to be
th e seco nd Adam , it ser ves as a paradigm of th e way in which Goel deals w ith all men.
But all thi s reasoning, whereby we maintain th at th e grace of Goel
through Jes us Chri st our Lord is truly grace, t hat is, is not gi ve n acco rd -
ing to our merit s ... invol ves so mew hat of a diffi c ult y in respec t of grown-
up peop le, wh o are already exerc ising th e choi ce o f w ill. But when we
come to th e case of infants, and to th e M edi ator betwee n God and man
Him se lf, the man Chri st Jes us, th ere is want ing all asse rti on of human
merit s that precede the grace of Goct. 20
Since th e paradi gm of God 's dea lings w ith man see ms so arbitrary A ugustin e
offers no cause for ass urance of sa lvati on . Hi s doctrine of th e perseverance of the
sain ts mea ns th at tho se wh om Goel has chose n w ill cert ainly persevere to the encl.
Those , then, are elected , as has ofte n been said, who are ca ll ed accord -
ing to His purpose, who are also predestined and fo rek now n. If any one of
th ese perishes , Goel is mi stake n : but none of them peri shes beca use God
is not mi staken. If any one of these peri shes , God is overcome by human
sin : but none of them peri shes, because Goel is overco me by nothing. 2 "
But it is not un ti l th e encl that one ca n know if he was rea lly cho se n by Goel or not. Any
fee ling of certaint y of sa lvation is view ed by A ugust ine as .fa lse pres um ptio n.
Fo r who of th e multitud e of beli eve rs ca n pres ume, so long as he is li ving
in thi s mortal stat e, that he is in th e number of th e predes tin ated? Because
it is necessa ry th at in th is co ndition th at shou ld be kept hidd en : since here
we have to beware so mu ch of pride, that eve n so great an apost le was
buffeted by a messenger of Sata n, les t he should be lifted up. 27
The C hri stian is left in a pos iti on of prayer for th e gift of per severin g grace, hoping w ith
fear and tr embling that he is one of God's elec t. 28
Ca lvin 's attitud e could hardl y be more different from A ugust ine's on thi s ques-
tion . Without denying th e free grace of Goel , Ca lvin does not hes itate to show th at
grace need not be in scrutabl e to the elec t . In th e case of infants God 's dea lings are not
bound to the extern al rite of bapti sm. In contrast to Augu st ine, Cal vi n proc laim s that
"we mu st utterl y rej ect th e fi ction of tho se w ho cons ign all th e unbapti zed to etern al
cleath." 2 11 Baptism does not automati ca ll y was h away th e sin that wou ld remain w ith-
out it. Rath er it is essentiall y a sign of th e cove nant betwee n Goel and hi s people. Al-
though th e external sign of bapti sm is not to be cl episecl and ignored , God's promise

5
continues with or witho ut th e sign. Thu s God 's acti ons, although no less free for Calvin
th an ror A ugustin e, are bound to a co venant upon w hi c h man can rely with co nfi dence.
Fo r how swee t is it to godl y mind s to be assured , not onl y b y wo rd , but by
sight , th at th ey obtain so mu ch fa vo r w ith th e H eave nl y Fath er th at th eir
offspring are within hi s ca re? For here w e ca n see how he takes on toward
us th e rol e o f a mos t prov ident Fath er , w ho eve n after our dea th main ta in s
hi s care for us, pro viding for and loo king aft er our chilclren .'w
L ikewi se God 's grace is sc rutable to th e adult Christian if vi ew ed from th e stand-
point of fa ith . Fro m thi s stand po int th e doc trine of predestin ation does not fr ighten
th e Chri sti an but ra th er ass ures him of hi s electi on.
Th ere is no con siderati on more apt for th e building up of fa ith th an th at we
should li sten to thi s electi on whi ch th e Spirit of Goel testifi es in our hea rt s
to stand in th e eternal and infl ex ible good w ill of god , in vulnera ble to all
sto rm s of th e world , all assault s of Satan and all vac ill ati on of th e fl es h ...
Hence ari ses an impreg nable sec urity . 31
It is impossibl e to see how thi s ca n be th e case unl ess one recogni zes th e stron g
connec tion bet wee n predestin ati on and so teriol ogy th at has bee n emph as ize d by muc h
twenti eth ce ntury Cal v in sc holarship . One's security indeed does not rest in th e
th ought that Goel inscrut ably c hooses some to salva tion and other s to damnati o n;
ra th er it rests in th e proc lamati o n th at in Chri st Goel has elec ted us to sa lva ti on. T hu s
Ca lvin employs a di stin cti on pa ra ll elling th at betwee n pro x imate and remote ca uses;
thi s tim e th e di stin ction is betw ee n th e labyrinthine mind of Goel as it ex ists in itse lf and
God 's purpose as it is revealed to us.
But I do not merely se nd men off to th e sec ret elec ti on of Goel to await
with ga ping mouth sa l va ti on th ere. I bid th em make th eir way directl y to
Chri st in wh o m sa lva ti on is offered us, w hic h oth erwi se would have lain
hid in Goel. For w hoever does not wa lk in t he plai n path of fa ith can make
nothing of th e elec ti o n of' Goel but a lab yrinth o f destru cti on. 3 2
With thi s kind of ass ura nce it is not surpri sing to find th at A ugustin e's co ntinu all y
unce rt ain praye r for the gift of per seve ran ce find s no place in Ca lv in 's th eo logy.
T he Spiri t of Goel , th en , never ex horts us to care and applicati on in praye r ,
as if our sa l va tion flu ctu ated in a state o f un ce rtaint y , fo r it rests in the
hand of Goel ; never imposes o n us a fea r th at cuts aw ay th e co nfi de nce
fo unded on th e gratuitous love or Gocl. '13
In th e last analys is w e mu st co nclu de t hat alth ough Calv in 's doctrin e of pre-
des tin ati on certainl y has A ugustini an elements within it , hi s use of th e doc trin e is di s-
tin ctl y a w ork of Reform ati o n th eology. L uth er' s qu est fo r religious ce r ta int y led him
to th e gos pel promi se ofju stifi ca ti o n by fa ith alone. With thi s promi se L uther was able
to with stand the o ppos iti on of man and the assa ults of demons. Ca lvin 's less colorful
pe rso nal life may so metim es o bsc ure th e fac t th at he too so ught ce rt ainty in an age of
un cert aint y; he too found it in th e gospel promi se . But for Cal vin th e gos pel was more
broadly interpreted throu gh a grea ter emph as is on th e doc trine of predes tin ati on .
Certaint y i s found ed on th e faith th at God has chose n us in Chri st before th e found a-
tion of th e world and th at hi s control ove r c reati on is so compl ete th at nothin g ca n in
the least threaten our sec urity.
If Pighiu s [Ca lvin ' s" Pel agian " opponent) asks how I know I am elec t , I
answ er th at C hri st is more th an a thou sa nd testimoni es to me. Fo r wh en

6
 we find o urse l ves in Hi s body, our sa l va ti on res ts in a sec ure and tranquil
place , as th ough already loca ted in heave n.a·•
Suc h ass urance Augustine cou ld not provide.

FOOTNOTES

'John Cal vin , Co11cemi11g the Etemal Pr<•desti11atio11 <!(God , tran s. w ith an Int rod ucti on by J.K .S. Re id
(London: Jame s Clark e & Co., 1961), c hap. IV .
2 cf. Georges Bavaud, "La Doctr ine de la predes tination et de Ia rep rob atio n d 'a pres s. Augustin et Ca lvi n,"
R e1•11e des et11des A 11!i 11Sti11ie11 11es 5 ( 1959): 43 1-438. Bavaud recog ni zes difference s between Augu stine and
Ca lv in but att ribut es Calv in 's departure from A ugust in e to the influence of nominali sm.
3
Eugene TeSell e, A 111i11s ti11e the Th eologia n (New Yo rk : H erd er & H erder , 1970). p. 3 19.
·• St. A ureliu s A ugust in e, "On the Predest inati on of th e Saints," in Saint A 11g11sti11 : A 11ti-Pela!iia11 Writings.
tran s. Peter Holmes & Rev. Robert Ern est Wa lli s, translation rev ised w ith an Introdu ction by Benjamin B.
Warfield , A Selec t Lib rru·y of th e N ice ne and Post- Nicene Fathers or th e Chri st ian Church (New York :
Charl es Scr ibn er 's Sons, 1908). chap. 19(X).
'St. A ureliu s A ugustin e, The E11chiridio11 011 Fa ith . /-l ope and Lol'e. ed. w ith an Introd uction by H enry
Paolu cci (C hicago: Henry Regnery Co., 196 1), chap. LXXX I.
i; St. Au reliu s A ugustine , Th e City<!( God. trans. M arcus Dods w ith an In troductio n by Thomas Merton
(New York: Random House, Th e Modern Library , 1950), chap'. X IV , 13.
7
St. A ureliu s Augustine , " On Rebuke and Grace." in Sa int A11g11sti11: A11ti-Pelag ill11 Writings , chap . 31 .
' We are her e ignoring Satan , the immed iate cause or Adam's downfall , and ask ing the more ultimate qu es-
tion.
11
St. A ureliu s Augustine , "On Marriage and Concupi scence," in Saint A111;usti11 : A11ti-Pela1:ia11 Writin gs,
chap. 11 , 48.
10
St. Au reliu s Augustine , Th e City of God, chap. X IV , 13.
"St. A ureliu s A ugustine, "O n Man's Perfection in Right eousness," in Saint A111i11sti11: A11ti-Pelagia11 Wri-
tin gs, chap. I V(9).
12
St. A ureliu s A ugustine, The C ity '!(Go d , chap. XV , I.
"'St. Au reliu s Augustine, "On Grace and Free Wi ll ," in Sllin t A11u11sti11: A11ti-Pelauia11 Writin gs. chap.
4 I(XX).
'"'cf. Gotthard Nygren , Das Pr(l(/esti11a tio11sproble111 in tier Theologie A11g11sti11 s (Lund: CW K Gleerup,
1956) , pp . 265 , 266 . In Nygre n's words: "D ie Lehre von der doppe lten Pradest ination, zum Himmel und
zur Holl e, hat somit - obwohl sic h der positi ve Sinn der Gesc hi chte im Gedanken an Christus und di e
Heiligen ersc hopft - das letzte Wort in der augustini sc hen T heologie." Surely the double predes tin at io n
label best app li es on l y to th ose w ho, unlike A ugustin e, are will ing to make God ul t im ate ly respo nsible
for th e si n of th e reprobate.
"John Ca lvin , / 11stit11te.\' f!( the Ch ristian R eliuio n, 2 vols., John T. McNei l! , trans. Ford Lewis Batt les, The
Library or Christ ian Classics (Philadel phi a: The Westm in ster Press , 1960) , I , xv , 8. " If anyone objects th at
[man's] w ill was pl aced in an in secure position because it s power was weak, hi s statu s should have ava il ed
to r emove any excu se; nor was it reasonabl e for God to be constra in ed by the necess it y or makinga man w ho
eith er could not or wou ld not sin at all. Such a 11at11re wou ld, in deed , have bee n more excell ent. But to quruTe l
w ith God on thi s precise point, as if he ought to have co nferred thi s upon man . is more th an in iquitou s, in as-
mu ch as it It 'll.\' in his 011'11 choic e to f.: il' e w/Jatel'er he p leased. " (Italics mine.)
" ' John Ca lvin, Co nceminu the Eterna l Predes ti11atio111~(Gn d , chap. VIII , 5.
17
John Calvin, ln stit11tes <!(the Christian R eligion , III , xxi ii , 7.
'" John Ca lv in, Concerni11u t/1<' Eternal Predestination f!( God, chap. V 11.
'" Ib id. , chap. V III , 4.
211
Ibid ., chap. X. 1.5.
21
Ibid ., chap. X. 7.
"Jo hn Ca lv in , Ca l1 ·in: Co1111n e111aries, tran s. & ed . Jo se ph Haroutunian , The Librru·y of C hri stian Classics
(Philadelph ia: The Westmi nster Press, 1958), p. 262.
"St. Aure lius August in e, " On the Merits and Remission of Sins, and on the Bapt ism of In fants," in Sai11 t
A 11g11sti11: Anti-Pclagian Writi11u s. bk . I , chap . 62(XXX I11 ) .
24
St. Aureliu s A ugusti ne, "On Grace and Free Will ," chap . 45 (XX lll ) .

7
"'S t. Aureliu s Augu s tine , "On the Predestination of the Sa int s," c hap. 23 (XI I).
"'St. Aure li us Aug ustine, " On Rebuke a nd Grace," chap. 14 .
" Ibid., chap. 40.
" St. Aureliu s Augus tine , " On the G ift of Perseverance," in Saint A 11g 11stin: A nti-Pl'iagian Writin gs, c hap s.
3, 10 (V I) .
" ' Jo hn Ca lvin , Institutes f~/"t h e Ch ristian R elii:ion, IV , xv i, 26.
:io Ibid. , IV , sv i, 32.
:ii John Calvin , Co11cerni11i: th e Etema/ Predestination of God, chap. 11.
~12 Ibid ., chap. VII I , 4.
"' Ibid. , c hap. V III , 8.
31
· Ibid. 1 chap. V 111 .