Eligere – electio – Election

The Biblical Roots of a Theological Topos

Abstract

Despite its frequent use in Christian theology since Augustine, the term “election” (electio) has hardly a textual basis in the Bible. While the verb eligere in its various grammatical forms is used quite frequently in the Vulgate, the noun electio is completely absent from the OT and occurs only a handful of times in the NT. The reason is that in the biblical context, the fact of someone “being elected” is the expression of God’s concrete action in history and in no way implies a pre-destination from all eternity. The present paper analyses certain passages in Hag, Jer and Eph that develop the idea of a pre-natal predestination of prophets by God and of a pre-cosmic election of all those who believe in Christ. Ultimate-ly, it is clear that the concept of an election “before the creation of the world” is a later phenomenon, fostered on the Jewish side by apocalyptic-qumranic movements and on the Christian side, by dogmatic Christological disputes.