3.2.3

Election

Test yourself

Limited Election

Election forms the basis of the Christian doctrine of predestination. Limited election is the idea that God chooses the eternal destiny of each human person.

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Limited election

  • The doctrine of limitation arises from the belief God is omniscient.
    • This is the belief that God is all-knowing, so nothing is unknown to God.
  • He knows where we will end up after death.
  • St. Augustine and John Calvin were both proponents of the idea of limited election.
  • St. Augustine originally taught the idea.
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St. Augustine & limited election

  • Augustine first concluded that people were predestined for heaven or hell because of God's 'foreknowledge'.
    • God knows everything with certainty.
  • God's knowledge would be of what people would freely choose to do.
  • So, God's knowledge doesn’t take away from the idea of free will given in the Bible.
  • Augustine then went on to explain that God did not only know who would be saved, but chose those people.
    • God decides who is going to receive his saving grace and who was not going to be saved from Original Sin.
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John Calvin

  • Later in the 16th Century, John Calvin elaborated on this same idea.
  • Calvin argued God had predestined some to eternal punishment and other to eternal life with God.
    • Calvin's ideas were taken from Augustine.
    • Calvin's ideas were based on his belief in the unshakeable sovereignty of God.
    • God is in absolute control over everything that happens.
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Fundamentalist Christians

  • Many Fundamental Christians hold the view of limited election.
  • They believe that heaven is only accessible to Christians who have accepted that Jesus is, ‘the way, the truth and the life’.
  • They believe that based on Jesus teaching:
    • ‘No one comes to the Father except through me’ (John 14:6).
  • Heaven is limited to Christians only.

Unlimited Election & Universalism

Unlimited election states that all people are called to salvation but not all are saved. Universalists believe that all people will be saved.

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Unlimited election

  • Unlimited election says that it is possible for all to be saved.
  • But, it also recognises the possibility that many will go their own way.
    • Such individuals will be seen as refusing Christ’s gift of salvation.
  • Unlimited election does not say that all people will be saved.
    • Universalism says that all people will be saved, unlimited election says it's only possible all will be saved.
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Unlimited election theories

  • Within Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian traditions, no one is predestined to go to hell.
  • God loves everyone. God is seen to be omnibenevolent (the belief that God is all-loving).
    • So, everyone has the opportunity to be redeemed and saved through Jesus Christ.
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Universalism

  • Universalism is the idea that all people, past and present, will eventually go to heaven due to the love and mercy of God.
  • Pluralists Christians believe that all religions will lead to God, they are all equal and no one is wrong.
  • Jesus never tried to convert the Jews.
    • Jesus is quoted as saying, ‘in my father’s house there are many rooms, and I am going to prepare a place for you’ (John 14:2).
  • This is thought to mean that there is room for all religions and all people in heaven.

Jump to other topics

1Philosophy of Religion

1.1Ancient Philosophical Influences: Plato

1.2Ancient Philosophical Influences: Aristotle

1.3Ancient Philosophical Influences: Soul, Mind, Body

1.4The Existence of God - Arguments from Observation

1.5The Existence of God - Arguments from Reason

1.6Religious Experience

1.7The Problem of Evil

1.8The Nature & Attributes of God

1.9Religious Language: Negative, Analogical, Symbolic

1.10Religious Language: 20th Century Perspective

2Religion & Ethics

3Developments in Christian Thought

3.1Saint Augustine's Teachings

3.2Death & the Afterlife

3.3Knowledge of God's Existence

3.4The Person of Jesus Christ

3.5Christian Moral Principles

3.6Christian Moral Action

3.7Development - Pluralism & Theology

3.8Development - Pluralism & Society

3.9Gender & Society

3.10Gender & Theology

3.11Challenges

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