The theological developments of the early fourteenth century, in authors such as John Duns Scotus and William of Ockham, emphasized the contingency of the world and God’s sovereignty to have chosen the actual world from among various possible worlds. Inherent in the discussion of the contingency of the world was the theological distinction between God’s absolute power (potentia absoluta) and his ordained power (potentia ordinata). The absolute power of God can bring about anything that does not involve a logical contradiction, but, of all of the unactualized possibilities, God chooses or ordains according a logically consistent subset of these possibilities (potentia ordinata). This basic distinction is found throughout Holcot’s works, and informs his own cove-nantal theology.
According to Holcot, God de potentia ordinata, established a covenant or pact with humanity. This is developed in Holcot’s Postilla super librum Sapientiae and Commentary on the Sentences, where he argues that God freely established a covenant with humanity to give grace to all who make full use of their natural abilities. Through this covenant that God enters into freely the human being who ‘‘does his/her best’’ (facit quod in se est) merits a reward (meritum de congruo) from God. There are two points about this general picture that are important: first, Holcot strongly holds that God’s ordained power is radically free and not bound to anything other than the law of noncontradiction; second, the semi-Pelagian position above is contextualized within a broader understanding of God’s eternal predestination. That is, Holcot holds that all good works are the effect of God’s predestination in that God’s prevenient grace provides the possibility for human good works.
World History
