prevenient grace

American  

noun

1. divine grace operating on the human will prior to its turning to God.

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Etymology

Origin of prevenient grace

First recorded in 1660–70

Example Sentences

He is almost entirely dependent upon God's "prevenient grace," which gives him the desire to do God's will, and "subsequent grace," which enables him to do it.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Semipelagians ascribed the dispositions necessary for justification to the natural efforts of the will, thereby denying the necessity of prevenient grace.

From Grace, Actual and Habitual A Dogmatic Treatise by Preuss, Arthur

If the necessity of prevenient grace was not sufficiently emphasized, the circumstances of the time explain, and to some extent excuse, the mistake.

From Grace, Actual and Habitual A Dogmatic Treatise by Preuss, Arthur

It follows that to be efficacious, prayer must be an effect of prevenient grace.

From Grace, Actual and Habitual A Dogmatic Treatise by Preuss, Arthur

For subsequent grace, inasmuch as it pertains to glory, is not numerically distinct from prevenient grace whereby we are at present justified.

From Summa Theologica, Part I-II (Pars Prima Secundae) From the Complete American Edition by Thomas, Aquinas, Saint