Supralapsarian

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A theological position holding that God's predestination of the elect and reprobate occurred before the creation and fall of Adam
2. The belief that God determined which souls would be saved or damned prior to allowing humanity to fall into sin
3. A doctrine maintaining that divine election was decreed before, rather than in response to, the original sin of mankind

Etymology: Supralapsarianism is a theological doctrine, and the word's own parts explain its meaning. "Supra-" is the Latin prefix meaning "above" or "before," and "lapsarian" comes from "lapsus," the Latin noun for a fall or slip, here referring to the Fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis. The term therefore describes a view that God's decree to elect some people and reprobate others came logically before, or above, his decree to permit the Fall. The pairing is deliberate. Its opposite, "infralapsarian," places the decree of election after the Fall, so that God considers humanity already fallen when choosing who will be saved. Both words were formed within Reformed theology, where the debate over the order of God's decrees was a live question, and the labels were coined to tell the two positions apart.

Synonyms: supralapsary

Antonyms: infralapsarian