Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Relating to or believing in predestination: Describes something connected to the theological doctrine that all events, especially regarding salvation, have been predetermined by a divine power.
   • Holding the doctrine of predestination: Characterizing a person or belief system that adheres to the concept of predestination.

2. Noun:

   • A person who believes in predestination: An individual who submits to or advocates for the belief that all outcomes, particularly one's eternal destiny, are foreordained and unchangeable by human will.

Examples

• Adjective:

  • The debate focused on the predestinarian views within the church.
  • His theology was strictly predestinarian, leaving no room for free will in matters of salvation.

• Noun:

  • As a staunch predestinarian, she believed her path was already charted.
  • The predestinarians and the free-will advocates engaged in a lengthy doctrinal dispute.

Advanced Usage

• Theological Context: The term is primarily used in religious, philosophical, or historical discussions about fate, divine will, and determinism.
  • Calvinist theology is often described as predestinarian in its core tenets.

Variants and Related Words

• Predestination (n): The doctrine or belief that all events are willed by God, especially concerning the salvation of souls.
• Predestinate (v): To predetermine or foreordain.
• Predestinarianism (n): The belief in or adherence to the doctrine of predestination.

Synonyms

• Determinist: One who believes all events are determined by causes external to the will.
• Fatalist: One who submits to the belief that all events are inevitable.
• Calvinist (in specific theological contexts): A follower of John Calvin, whose doctrines include predestination.

Related Phrases

• Doctrine of predestination: The formal theological teaching that God has eternally chosen those who will be saved.
  • He wrote his thesis on the doctrine of predestination in early Christian thought.

Adjective

1. of or relating to predestination; holding the doctrine of predestination

Noun

1. anyone who submits to the belief that they are powerless to change their destiny