Corporate Election - Historical Perspectives On Election

Historical Perspectives On Election

Historically, both Calvinists and Arminians have predominately understood election unto salvation as individual. That is, each individual is elected/selected to enter into a saving relationship with God through Christ. The central difference between the two views is that Calvinists see election as unconditional and Arminians see election as conditional on divine foreknowledge of human faith. While corporate election is not the traditional Arminian position, it is totally consistent with Arminian theology because it is a conditional election—conditional upon union with Christ through faith. According to Abasciano, the corporate view of election "has come to command a great deal of scholarly support," and its popularity is likely due to the increased sensitivity of the scholarly community to "the Jewish matrix of early Christianity and the profound indebtedness to the Old Testament on the part of the New Testament authors."