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 hour of God strikes for any soul when that soul yields to prevenient grace and places itself utterly at the disposal of God, confiding wholly in His divine wisdom.

From Our Lady Saint Mary by Barry, J. G. H.

What must his wrath be that the thirty thousand Needlewomen are still here, and the question of "prevenient grace" not yet settled!

From Latter-Day Pamphlets by Carlyle, Thomas

“Now, I find thy prevenient grace helping my infirmities, and assisting me to pray as I ought.”

From True Christianity by Arndt, Johann

We have Puseyisms, black-and-white surplice controversies:—do not, officially and otherwise, the select of the longest heads in England sit with intense application and iron gravity, in open forum, judging of "prevenient grace"?

From Latter-Day Pamphlets by Carlyle, Thomas