predestination
n. in Christian theology, the belief or doctrine that God has foreordained salvation for certain chosen individuals, not for any merit of their own but purely according to his grace. This doctrine was taught systematically by early Church father Augustine of Hippo (354–430) and revived by 16th-century reformers Martin Luther (1483–1546) and John Calvin (1509–1564). Calvin’s system is sometimes described as one of double predestination, as it maintains that God also foreordained a portion of humankind to damnation, an idea that raises particular moral difficulties. Predestination is a form of theological determinism, as it effectively denies human free will and moral responsibility. The concept has always been the subject of intense debate and is now rejected by most mainstream Christian thinkers. See Calvinism.