See also: Infralapsarianism
📖 Biblical Definition
Infralapsarianism is the view concerning the logical order of God’s eternal decrees which holds that the decree of election and reprobation logically follows the decree to create and to permit the Fall—so that God, contemplating mankind as created and fallen into sin, chose some out of that fallen mass to salvation and passed by the rest, leaving them to the just condemnation of their sin. The name means “after the lapse” (the Fall), and the position is also called sublapsarianism. It is the more common and widely held view within Reformed orthodoxy, and is reflected in the order of the great Reformed confessions, which typically treat creation and the Fall before election. Infralapsarians argue that this order better safeguards the justice of God in reprobation: since the reprobate are viewed as already fallen and guilty, their condemnation is plainly just—a passing-by of sinners who deserve nothing but wrath—and God is in no way made the author of their sin, for the Fall is decreed prior to their reprobation. They appeal to the imagery of the potter forming vessels from a single lump understood as the fallen mass of humanity, and to the consistent biblical pattern of mercy shown to sinners. The position stands in friendly debate with supralapsarianism, which logically places election before the permitted Fall. The disagreement concerns only the conceptual order of the one eternal decree, not the substance of unconditional election, which both affirm; it is a refinement among brethren who together confess that salvation is wholly of God’s sovereign grace, and it is to be held with the humility befitting a question that touches the inscrutable counsel of God.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Webster 1828 has no entry for this technical term; like supralapsarianism, it concerns the order of the divine DECREES—here, election following the permitted Fall.
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“Infralapsarianism” (Latin infra lapsum, after the fall), also sublapsarianism, is the view that the decree of election logically follows the decree to permit the Fall.
It is the more common Reformed position, contrasted with supralapsarianism; the matter concerns the logical order of God’s eternal decree.
📖 Key Scripture
Romans 9:15 — "For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."
Ephesians 2:3-4 — "...and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us."
Romans 5:12 — "...by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."
Romans 9:23 — "...that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
This is the more common Reformed view in an intramural debate. Its danger is the same speculative overreach that besets the whole controversy—pressing the logical order of decrees with more confidence than Scripture warrants.
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Infralapsarianism, like its supralapsarian counterpart, is a refinement within Reformed orthodoxy and not a matter dividing the faithful from the unfaithful; both affirm unconditional election and dispute only the logical order of the one eternal decree. As the more common and confessionally reflected view, infralapsarianism enjoys broad acceptance, and is generally thought to guard the justice of reprobation more obviously, since it views the reprobate as already fallen and guilty—passed by as sinners who deserve wrath, not condemned as mere creatable beings. Its appeal is to the consistent biblical picture of God showing mercy to sinners and forming His vessels from a lump understood as fallen humanity.
Its danger is not a distinctive error but the speculative overreach common to the whole controversy. Even the more modest infralapsarian position can be pressed beyond the bounds of revelation, mapping the eternal counsel of God with a precision the Scriptures do not supply, and treating a question that touches the inscrutable mind of God as though it could be settled with the certainty of a mathematical proof. The wise course, whichever ordering one favors, is humility: to hold the great certainties firmly—that election is unconditional, that salvation is wholly of grace, that God is just in all His judgments—while confessing that the precise logical architecture of the eternal decree lies largely beyond us. Infralapsarian and supralapsarian brethren may debate the order with profit, but neither should unchurch the other, nor forget that they stand together before a God whose judgments are unsearchable and His ways past finding out.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
The view places election infra lapsum (below/after the fall), choosing vessels of mercy (eleos) from a humanity already fallen and under wrath (orgē).
Usage
"Infralapsarianism places the decree of election logically after the permitted Fall, choosing the elect from fallen humanity."
"It is the more common Reformed view, thought to guard the justice of reprobation as a passing-by of guilty sinners."
"Infra and supra brethren debate the order of the decree with reverence, agreeing on unconditional election itself."