Election

In general, election refers to God's choice of persons or peoples to be involved with God's good will and purposes. In the Hebrew Bible, the term could be applied to the people of Israel as “God's chosen people”—a theme that is picked up but adapted in the New Testament. There, and in subsequent Christian theology, election takes on a particular meaning: God's choice of persons to inherit salvation through Jesus Christ. In the Western Church, election became informed by an emphasis on God's absolute sovereignty, making it a matter of unconditional divine fiat. While not equivalent with predestination, this (Western) understanding of election paved the way for Reformation-era debates, most notably between Calvinists and Arminians. By contrast, the Eastern Church has traditionally not expended such energy on the topic, in large part due to its emphasis on the co-operant nature of divine grace.