Calvinist terminology

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Calvinist terminology describes the words and terms associatiated with Calvinism.

[edit] Supralapsarianism and Infralapsarianism

Supralasarianism is also known as Antelapsarianism, Infralapsarianism as Sublapsarianism.

Many prominent Early Calvinists were Supralapsarian, such as Luther, Perkins, Knox, Beza, Zanchius, Gomarus, Zwingle, Twisse. Subsequent Calvinism (including the Reformed confessions) was frequently Infralapsarian, although Supralapsarianism has revived recently, e.g. Vos, Clark.

The word is often used in a general sense, with Supralapsarianism meaning the idea that God planned the fall, and Infralapsarianism the idea that God merely foresaw, and hence permitted or merely reacted to the fall. In this sense all Calvinists are Supralapsarians, believing that God planned the fall. Nevertheless, inside Scholastic Calvinism, the terms came to mean a different thing. Though all held that God planned the fall prior to creation, disputes arose as to the logical relation within this plan between the decision to save individuals and the decision to allow the fall. Supralapsarians believe that in the logical order of the divine decrees, individual election/reprobation occurring logically prior to the fall, Infralapsarians believing it occurs logically subordinate. Both positions are double predestinarian.

The Latin root 'supra' means 'over', 'above', 'before'. The root 'infra' means 'below', 'under', 'after'. Supralapsarianism is the position that the fall occurred (amongst other reasons) to facilitate God's purpose of election and reprobation of individuals, but Infralapsarianism holds that, though the fall was planned, it was not planned in reference to who would be saved. Thus Supralapsarians (In the Calvinist sense used here) believe that God chose which individuals to save before he decided to allow the race to fall, the fall serving as the means of realisation of the prior decision to send some individuals to hell and others to heaven, providing the grounds of condemnation in the reprobate and the need for redemption in the elect. In contrast, the Infralapsarian holds that God planned the race to fall logically prior to the decision as to which individuals to save or damn out of a fallen race. As such, it is argued that to be saved, one must be subject to something that one needs to be saved from, and so the fall is logically prior to the decree of election.

Supralapsarians are often termed Hyper-Calvinistic, although this is a mysnomer. All Hypers are Supra, but not all Supras are Hyper.

[edit] Double Predestination

See the article Predestination.

Double Predestination is the view that God chose who would go to heaven, and who to hell, and that his decision is infallibly to come to pass, being the grounds of the differences between the two groups. This point of view simultaneously denies that God is the Author of Evil, but the issue is recognized as the most centrally difficult point of the doctrine of predestination. The difference between elect and reprobate is not in themselves, all being equally unworthy, but in God's sovereign decision to show mercy to some, to save some and not others. It is called double predestination because it holds that God chose both who to save and who to damn, as opposed to single predestination which contends that though he chose who to save, he didn't choose who to damn.

[edit] The TULIP

The acronym TULIP is used, among English-speaking Calvinists, to represent the Five points of Calvinism.

• Total Depravity.
• Unconditional Election.
• Limited Atonement.
• Irresitible Grace.
• Perseverance of the Saints.

See also: Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, and Perseverance of the saints.