Resources On Election And Predestination

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 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, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:3–14; ESV).

The historic Christian doctrine of predestination (election and reprobation) have long been controversial. In the ninth century, Gottschalk was beaten and confined to his monastery for daring to repeat what Augustine had written against the Pelagians and semi-Pelagians. Today, the same thing happens figuratively to evangelicals who stumble upon the ancient (e.g., Ignatius of Antioch, Augustine), medieval (e.g., Gottschalk, Aquinas), Reformation (e.g., Luther, Zwingli, Melanchthon, Calvin, Bucer, et al), and post-Reformation doctrines of election and reprobation (predestination). In an age when Pelagianism is practically the reigning orthodoxy among modern Evangelicals, the doctrine of predestination can seem shocking and yet it is the teaching of Scripture and an ecumenical doctrine. The Council of Ephesus (AD 431) condemned Pelagianism as heresy against the universal (ecumenical, catholic) faith. The Second Council of Orange (AD 529) denounced the Pelagians as heretics.

They confessed that because Scripture teaches that God has, from all eternity, elected some and reprobated others. In Ephesians 1, Paul teaches predestination. We were “chosen” (ἐξελέξατο) in Christ, “from the foundation of the world.” In both vv. 5 and 11 we are said to have been “predestined” (προορίσας in v. 5 and προορισθέντες in v. 11). So, that seems rather clear. There is no indication in this text that our election or predestination was conditioned upon anything God foresaw in us. The indication from the text is that God chose us “in Christ” and “in love” from all eternity unconditionally.

Romans 9:11–13 really nails this point:

…though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated” (ESV)

Election (as distinct from reprobation) is said here to be unconditioned by anything in Jacob. God elects fallen, sinful creatures. What sort of creatures? Fallen creatures. As Augustine, said, God elect us out of a “lump of sin.” Paul said that, after the fall, we were “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph 2:1).

Election is a marvelous doctrine, confessed by the ancient fathers and by the Reformed churches today.

Sources

Articles

Podcasts & Media

Bibliography

  • Alexander, Amy K. “Not By Stars or Skill: Providence in the Theology of Thomas Bradwardine.,”  M.A. Thesis. Westminster Seminary California, 2012.
  • Augustine, Four Anti-Pelagian Writings. The Fathers of the Church, V. 86.  Catholic University of America Press, 1992.
  • Boettner, Loraine. The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination. Presbyterian and Reformed Pub, 1932.
  • Bradwardini, Thomae. De causa dei contra pelagium. London, 1618.
  • Clark, R. Scott. The Heidelberg Catechism: A Historical, Theological, Pastoral Commentary. Lexham Academic, 2025.
  • Clark, R. Scott. Baptism, Baptism, Election, and the Covenant of Grace.  Reformed Fellowship, 2007.
  • Clark, R. Scott. Caspar Olevian and the Substance of the Covenant. Reformation Heritage Books, 2005.
  • Clark, R. Scott. Redeemed From Every People, Tribe, Tongue, And Nation: A Commentary On The Canons Of Dort
  • Calvin, John. Concerning the Eternal Predestination of God. J. Clarke, 1961.
  • Calvin, Jean. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Edited by John T McNeill. Translated by Ford Lewis Battles. The Library of Christian Classics, V. 20-21.  Westminster Press, 1961. See book 3.
  • DuMoulin, Pierre. The Anatomy of Arminianism. London, 1620.
  • Genke, Victor and Francis X. Gumerlock, ed. and trans., Gottschalk and A Medieval Predestination Controversy: Texts Translated From the Latin. Medaeval Philosophical Texts in Translation. Marquette University Press, 2010.
  • Godescalk, Oeuvres De Godescalc d’Orbais. Spicilegium Sacrum Lovaniense, 1945.
  • Fesko, J. V. Arminius and the Reformed Tradition: Grace and the Doctrine of Salvation. Reformed Historical and Theological Studies. Reformation Heritage Books, 2022.
  • Godfrey, W. Robert, Saving the Reformation: The Pastoral Theology of the Canons of Dort. First edition. Reformation Trust, 2019.
  • Gottschalk. Gottschalk and a Medieval Predestination Controversy: Texts Translated from the Latin. Mediæval Philosophical Texts in Translation, No. 47. Marquette University Press, 2010.
  • Hyde, Daniel R. Grace Worth Fighting for: Recapturing the Vision of God’s Grace in the Canons of Dort. The Davenant Press, 2019.
  • James III, Frank A. Peter Martyr Vermigili and Predestination: The Augustinian Inheritance of An Italian Reformer. Oxford Theological Monographs. Oxford University Press, 1998.
  • Jansenius, Cornelius. The Predestination of Humans and Angels: Augustinus, Tome Iii, Book Ix. Translated by Guido Stucco. Early Modern Catholic Sources, Volume 4. Catholic University of America Press, 2022.
  • Klooster, Fred H. Calvin’s Doctrine of Predestination. 2d ed. Baker Biblical Monograph. Baker Book House, 1977.
  • Luther, Martin. Martin Luther on the Bondage of the Will: A New Translation of De Servo Arbitrio (1525) Martin Luther’s Reply to Erasmus of Rotterdam. Revell, 1957.
  • Luther, Martin. Bondage of the Will in Philip. S. Watson, ed. Luther’s Works, vol 33. Fortress Press, 1972.
  • Muller, Richard A. Christ and the Decree: Christology and Predestination in Reformed Theology From Calvin to Perkins. Baker Book House, 1986.
  • Muller, Richard A. Grace and Freedom: William Perkins and the Early Modern Understanding of Free Choice and Divine Grace. Oxford University Press, 202.
  • Muller, Richard A. Predestination in Early Modern Reformed Theology. Reformed Historical and Theological Studies. Reformation Heritage Books, 2024.
  • Muller, Richard A. Divine Will and Human Choice: Freedom, Contingency, and Necessity in Early Modern Reformed Thought. Baker Academic, 2017.
  • Oberman, H. A. Archbishop Thomas Bradwardine: A Fourteenth-Century Augustinian. Drukkerij En Uitgevers-Maatschappij f/v Kemink & Zoon N.V., 1958.
  • Oberman, Heiko A. Forerunners of the Reformation: The Shape of Late Medieval Thought Illustrated by Key Documents. Trans. Paul L. Nyhus. Lutterworth Press, 1967.
  • Peterson, Robert A. Election and Free Will: God’s Gracious Choice and Our Responsibility. Explorations in Biblical Theology. P & R Pub, 2007.
  • Phillips, Richard D. What Are Election and Predestination? Basics of the Reformed Faith. P & R Pub, 2006.
  • Perkins, William. Golden Chain in The Works of William Perkins.  Vol. 2. Edited by Joel R Beeke and Derek Thomas. Reformation Heritage Books, 2014.
  • Pol, Frank van der, ed. The Doctrine of Election in Reformed Perspective: Historical and Theological Investigations of the Synod of Dordt 1618–1619. Refo500 Academic Studies, Volume 51. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2019.
  • Rutherford, Samuel. The Works of Samuel Rutherford Volume 1: Arminianism: A Systematic and Theological Response. Trans. David C. Noe, ed. Chad Van Dixhoorn. Reformation Heritage Books, 2026.
  • Venema, Cornelis. Chosen in Christ: Revisiting the Contours of Predestination. Reformed, Exegetical and Doctrinal Studies. Mentor, 2019.
  •  Warfield, Benjamin Breckinridge. Calvin and Augustine. Presbyterian and Reformed Pub. Co., 1956.

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