Election in the old testament

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University, 1939Election - the consciousness within a racial or national group that they are chosen to fulfil some special destiny - is a well nigh universal concept. It appears early in the written history of mankind and is still in evidence in our day. The people of Israel, as did their contemporaries, regarded themselves as a "chosen people". Election, in a nationalistic sense held the expectation of power and self-glorification. Israel, while at times dominated by such an outlook, evolved a philosophy or theology of election, under which they felt it was their mission to be the teacher and savior of the world. The judgment of history has validated Israel's belief and has ruled against the belief held by the other nations of their day that they were "chosen people". Here is, then, a significant field of investigation: to examine the origin of Israel's election-faith; and, to see how, under it, they developed so as to demonstrate the genuineness of the choice