According to the doctrine of election, God gives some people and groups a special preference over others,wholly without relation to faith or works.

Election is a matter of God’s free, almost arbitrary, decision. The most apparent example is the frequent affirmation that Israel is God’s chosen people, in particular against the more powerful surrounding nations, such as Egypt and Mesopotamia.

New Testament texts (Gospel of John and Revelation) appear to equate those chosen by God with those who will obtain ultimate salvation. This view was developed and reinforced in forms of Protestantism influenced by John Calvin’s (1509–1564) theology of predestination presented in his work, Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536). Calvin’s doctrine was later questioned by Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609), who argued election was God’s choice of those who believe and persevere by grace in faith and works.

Several biblical texts and stories are used to justify the doctrine of election.

Genesis 12:2–3 stipulates that God chose Abraham, and by extension, Israel, as a part of his greater plan to benefit the entire world. Other places in Genesis (15:4-5, 16-21; 17:20; 22:15-19; 24:60) also refer to this connection. As God’s chosen people, Israel is to be a “Light to the Nations” (42:6), according to Second Isaiah.

Divine favoritism appears to support election. It first emerges in the fourth chapter of Genesis within the narrative of Cain and Abel, followed by the sibling stories of Isaac and Ishmael (Gen. 16–22) and Jacob and Esau (Gen 25–33), and culminating in Joseph (Gen 37–50).

In these narratives, the younger sibling is favored by God over the elder brother or brothers. This recurs throughout the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Ephraim, Moses, Samuel, David, and Solomon). Being “non-chosen” in the Genesis narratives, however, does not mean one is fated for divine punishment or condemnation. For instance, brothers not favored by God are not hated by Him or denied blessings of their own. Although Ishmael is outside of the Abrahamic covenant, God still provides him with many blessings promised to Abraham’s descendants. Much the same can be said of Esau (Gen. 33, 36).

Being selected and favored by God is not always a positive experience because such chosenness brings with it danger. Examples include Cain murdering Abel (Gen. 4), Isaac nearly being sacrificed by his father Abraham (Gen. 22), Esau wanting to murder his brother Jacob (Gen. 27:41–45), and Joseph nearly being murdered by his brothers (Gen 37).

Even among those divinely favored, some are more favored than others. For example, Joseph in Egypt, after successfully interpreting the pharaoh’s dreams, is elevated to great power. Distinctions exist also among God’s chosen people, as exhibited elsewhere with the descendants of David and Aaron.

Those chosen by God are morally flawed characters because they often fail to live up to the highest ideals expected of one who is chosen. However, this seldom results in the forfeiture of their election. Jacob, for example, obtains both the inheritance and the blessing intended for his brother Esau in morally problematic ways. Nonetheless, despite his trickery and deceit, he retains them and continues to benefit from God’s favor. On the other hand, God’s treatment of King Saul in response to his disobedience possibly implies he lost God’s divine favor he once possessed.

Divine election further emerges in the New Testament, which expands the elect to also include Gentiles who came to believe in Jesus as the Christ. In Romans, the Apostle Paul presents a new way of linking believing Gentiles to Abraham and through him to God’s elect people (4:16–18, 22–24).

References

Balentine, Samuel E. 2015. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Theology. Oxford University Press.

Browning, W. R. F. 2009. A Dictionary of the Bible (2 ed.). Oxford University Press.

Louth, Andrew. 2022. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (4 ed.). Oxford University Press.