No Room for Boasting: Samuel Blair on Predestination
From Dead Presbyterians Society by Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
February 17, 2026 · 23 min · Season 2 · Episode 11
About this episode
This episode examines Samuel Blair's defense of predestination and its implications for humility and grace.
The Doctrine of Predestination explores Samuel Blair’s 1742 defense of God’s sovereign grace — a work praised by Archibald Alexander as the hand of a master. Writing during the era of the Log College and the Great Awakening, Blair answered objections to election not with speculation, but with Scripture — grounding the doctrine in Romans 9, Ephesians 1, and the justice and mercy of God. In this episode, we examine Blair’s life, his pastoral purpose, and his argument that absolute election humbles the sinner, excludes boasting, and gives all the glory to Christ alone.
Topics covered
- predestination
- sovereign grace
- Christian doctrine
- election
- humility
- Scripture
Keywords
- predestination
- Samuel Blair
- Archibald Alexander
- sovereign grace
- election
- Scripture
- humility
- Christianity
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: The Doctrine of Predestination, Romans 9, Ephesians 1
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