Mystery and the problem Of election in Judaism and Christianity

Abstract

Jewish writers developed two interconnecting and contradictory ideas during the Hellenistic period. The first idea is that the One True God, the God of Israel, had chosen the Jewish people from all people on earth to engage in a covenantal relationship with God. This idea underwent development during the Hellenistic period but was deeply rooted in the Jews’ early scriptural tradition. The second idea is that the same God who chose the people of Israel was the sole creator of the universe. This idea became fully developed in the sixth century BCE, in the wake of the Babylonian exile.