The Mystery of Predestination: A Catholic Approach I Prof. Bruce Marshall

The Thomistic Institute

Christianity, Society & Culture, Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Catholic, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality, Thomism, Catholicism

4.8 • 729 Ratings

🗓️ 13 August 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

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Summary

Prof. Bruce Marshall presents a deep Catholic theological exploration of predestination, examining its biblical foundations, historical development, doctrinal boundaries, and the enduring tension between God’s sovereign will, grace, and human freedom.

This lecture was given on October 6th, 2024, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Bruce D. Marshall is Lehman Professor of Christian Doctrine at Southern Methodist University, and in 2023 he held the Aquinas Chair in the Thomistic Institute at the Angelicum in Rome. He is the author of Trinity and Truth and Christology in Conflict, and at present he is completing a book entitled The Primacy of Christ: Faith, Reason, and the Cross. Marshall has written extensively on the doctrines of the Trinity, the person and redemptive work of Christ, the Eucharist, the Catholic Church and non-Christian religions, and the relationship between faith and reason. He received his B.A. from Northwestern University and his Ph.D. from Yale University, and is a past President of the Academy of Catholic Theology.

Keywords: Augustine, Baptism, Council of Trent, Efficacious Grace, Gaudium et Spes, Grace and Free Will, Jesus Christ, Predestination, Romans 8, Sufficient Grace

Transcript

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0:00.0	As of July 1st, 2025, applications are open for the Thomistic Institute's Rome Study Abroad program for spring
0:07.6	26. Emmerse yourself in the Catholic intellectual tradition and experience profound opportunities
0:14.2	for spiritual formation in the heart of the church. Applications close August 15th. Learn more and apply at www.comstic Institute.org
0:24.4	forward slash Rome. Welcome to the Tomistic Institute podcast. Our mission is to promote the Catholic
0:33.8	intellectual tradition in the university, the church, and the wider public square.
0:38.4	The lectures on this podcast are organized by university students at Timistic Institute
0:42.9	chapters around the world. To learn more and to attend these events, visit us at
0:47.8	to mystic institute.org. You all have asked me to speak on predestination.
0:55.0	So you have an outline, it's a fairly detailed outline actually, if it's fairly closely follows what I'm going to say.
1:04.0	This is a difficult set of questions, and it's a set of questions connected to the idea of predestination that become rather
1:15.7	technical.
1:16.7	There's no way to avoid a certain level of technical discussion, but then this is the Massachusetts
1:21.1	Institute of Technology, so I assume that the technical discussions may be okay with you,
1:26.8	with you folks, technical discussions in theology
1:29.5	in this case.
1:31.7	But it's also a difficult matter for us, I think, and the reason I tried to spell out in some
1:39.7	detail in the outline for you what I'm going to be saying, so you won't just have to take it all in
1:44.6	as you hear it. It's a difficult matter intellectually within the Catholic tradition. It's not
1:51.4	simply a matter that is challenged by others, but within the Catholic tradition, there are basic philosophical and theological difficulties
2:03.8	connected to the idea of predestination,
2:06.7	which have really drawn the attention of Catholic thinkers
2:09.7	since ancient times,
	...

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