Foreordination, << `fawr` awr duh NAY shuhn, >> is the belief that every event is foreordained, or decreed beforehand, by God. Supporters of this doctrine argue that if God does not ordain every event, He cannot be said to be all-powerful. Foreordination in its extreme form teaches that, by God’s mysterious choice, some people are destined for hell and others for heaven.
Many religious traditions have taught some form of foreordination. But it is most often associated with John Calvin, whose ideas influenced the Congregationalists, Baptists, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians (see Calvin, John ). In recent years, most churches have moderated or ceased to emphasize foreordination.
