4. ORTHODOX PREDESTINATIONISM, OR THE THEORY OF PREDESTINATION ANTE PRAEVISA MERITA.—Some theologians conceive the divine scheme of salvation in this wise: (a) _In ordine intentionis_, God, by an absolute decree, first predestines certain men to eternal salvation, and then, in consequence of this decree, decides to give them all the graces necessary to be saved; (b) in time, however, or _in ordine executionis_, He observes the reverse order, that is to say, He first bestows the pre-appointed graces and subsequently the glory of heaven as a reward of supernatural merit acquired by the aid of those graces. This theory reverses the relation of grace and glory. While it correctly(605) represents glory as the fruit and reward of supernatural merit in the order of execution, it wrongly represents it in the order of intention as the cause of supernatural merit, whereas it is merely an effect. This opinion is championed by most Thomists,(606) some Augustinians,(607) and a few Molinists.(608) Their arguments may be sketched as follows: a) In innumerable passages of Sacred Scripture predestination to eternal happiness is represented as a work of pure mercy, nay, even as an arbitrary act of God. Take, _e.g._, Matth. XXIV, 22 sqq.: “And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened.... For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect.”(609) Here, it is claimed, the elect are represented as so thoroughly confirmed in faith and in good works as to be proof against error. This conclusion is unwarranted. The phrase “those days” manifestly refers either to the destruction of Jerusalem or to the end of the world. If it refers to the destruction of Jerusalem, the “elect,” according to Biblical usage,(610) are the faithful Christian inhabitants of the Holy City, for whose sake God promises to shorten the terrible siege. If it referred to the end of the world, _electi_ would indeed stand for _praedestinati_, but the context would not forbid us to interpret their predestination hypothetically, as merely indicating the immutability of the divine decree, which is not denied by the opponents of the theory.