Chosen people
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Various groups and individuals (see List of Messiah claimants) have considered themselves chosen by God for some purpose such as to act as God's agent on earth. This status may be viewed as a self-imposed higher standard to fulfill God's expectation.
Specifically, in the Hebrew Bible, called the Old Testament by Christians, and the Tanach by Jews, the phrase Chosen People refers to the ancient Hebrews/Israelites. In the Book of Deuteronomy, Yahweh proclaims the Nation of Israel, known originally simply as the Hebrews, as His holy people, chosen above all others (Deuteronomy 7:6). As mentioned in the Book of Exodus, the Hebrew people are God's chosen people and from them shall come the Messiah, or redeemer of the human race. The Israelites also possess the "Word of God" and/or "Law of God" in the form of the Torah as communicated by God to Moses. Jews and, by extension, Christians consider themselves to be the "chosen people". Adherents to Islam make, by the same extension as Christians, the same claim of chosenness by accepting what they see as the validity of the Law of God as told by Moses.
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[edit] Chosen religion vs chosen race
The subject is controversial due to the racial implication of Jews being chosen not merely as a religious community, but as a distinct ethnic group. While some sects of Judaism are inclusive of other ethnic groups, the commonly held view is that to be a Jew one must be of Jewish blood, specifically through the maternal bloodline, or convert through somewhat rigorous process. Different Jewish groups (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform) have a different idea of what is involved in that process. In Israel, only Orthodox conversions are considered legitimate.
[edit] Ethnocentrism
Views of being a chosen people are sometimes connected with self-superiority and ethnocentrism. The accusation can be used to justify or create cultural imperialism, racism, and xenophobia (e.g., British Israelism and the Christian Identity Movement claim that white Anglo-Saxons are the "true Biblical chosen people of God," while Black liberation theology holds that blacks are "God's chosen people"[1]). But religious Christians and Jews alike respond to such arguments that the chosen status by definition is a humbling one, as it requires responsibility and sacrifice, not simple privilege.
Isaiah 56:7 is sometimes quoted, which states "For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples," i.e., the path to God is universal.
[edit] Christianity
During the Second Vatican Council, the term People of God was introduced in Church ecclesiology, denoting a common heritage between Christians and Jews.
Supersessionism is the traditional Christian belief that Christian believers have replaced physical Israelites as God's chosen people. In this view, Israel's chosenness found its ultimate fulfillment through the message of Jesus; Jews who remain faithful to Judaism are no longer considered to be chosen, since they reject Jesus as the Messiah and son of God.
Christians who ascribe to supersessionism rely on Biblical references such as Galatians 3:28-29 to support their position that followers of Jesus, not Jews, are the chosen of God and heirs to God's promises to Abraham today: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Also, many Christian denominations have considered themselves to be the "true" Christians, at some time or another.
[edit] Specific Christian denominations
[edit] Seventh-day Adventism
In traditional Seventh-day Adventist theology, the Seventh-day Adventist church is identified as the end time remnant identified in Revelation 12:17. According to this view, Adventists are "chosen" by God to proclaim the three angels' messages of Revelation 14 to the world.
[edit] Mormonism
In Mormonism, all Latter Day Saints are viewed as covenant, or chosen, people; they have accepted the name of Jesus Christ. This acceptance of entering the covenant is initiated by baptism. In contrast to supersessionism, Latter Day Saints do not dispute the "chosen" status of the Jewish people. In LDS doctrine all people who have ever lived will have the ability to enter into this covenant during the Millennium. Mormon eschatology holds that Jews, as a chosen people, will ultimately accept Christianity (See Jeremiah 31:31-34).
Every practicing LDS member receives a patriarchal blessing that reveals their lineage in the House of Israel. This lineage may be blood related or through "adoption;" therefore, a child may not necessarily share the lineage of her parents (but will still be a member of the tribes of Israel). It is a widely held belief[citation needed] that most members of the faith are in the tribe of Ephraim or the tribe of Manasseh.
[edit] Judaism
In Judaism, chosenness is the belief that the Jews are a people chosen to be in a covenant with God. In modern day Rabbinical Judaism, the idea is not connected with being the descendants of Jacob as it was in Biblical Judaism, since non-ethnic Jews can become Jews.
The Jewish idea of being chosen is first found in the Torah (five books of Moses) and is elaborated on in later books of the Hebrew Bible. This status carries both responsibilities and blessings as described in the Biblical covenants with God. Much is written about this topic in rabbinic literature.
The chosenness refers to a specific set of responsibilities beyond the 7 Laws of Noah given to all mankind. It is every child of Noah's (non-Jewish person's) responsibility to live by the seven Noahide laws.
Though not held by authority figures of the religious Jews around the world, there are people with the opinion that the acceptance to adhere to the laws and commandments of Judaism make the chosen-ness as one of the Jewish people choosing to be in the covenant with God, and not the other way around. Usual Orthodox thinking states that even completely secular Jews are part of the Jewish nation and are 'full-fledged' Jews.
[edit] Islam
Islamic supersessionism presents Muslims as the only people chosen to carry the true word of God. According to these individuals, the leaders of both Judaism and Christianity deliberately altered the true word of God, and thus led all of their believers down a false path. In the Qur'an, according to the supersessionists, The Jewish people of that particular time period are charged with "falsehood" (Sura 3:71), distortion (4:46), and of being "corrupters of Scripture."
Some parts of the Qur'an attribute differences between Muslims and non-Muslims to tahrifi-manawi, a "corruption of the meaning" of the words. In this view, the Jewish Bible and Christian New Testament are true, but the Jews and Christians misunderstood the meaning of their own Scriptures, and thus need the Qur'an to clearly understand the will of God. Other parts of the Qur'an teach that many Jews and Christians deliberately altered their scripture, and thus altered the word of God in order to deceive their co-religionists. This belief was developed further in medieval Islamic polemics, and is a mainstream belief in much of Islam today. This is known as the doctrine of tahrifi-lafzi, "the corruption of the text."
[edit] Hinduism
Hinduism does not emphasize any concept of a chosen people. In general, Hinduism believes that salvation (moksha) is attained through realization of the truth and through spiritual experience. God is seen as impartial. Swami Vivekananda, a Hindu monk who advocated the harmony of all religions, taught that although the concept of "chosen people" is not ultimately true, it is a stage of growth and evolution that many religions must go through before they reach the higher truth of oneness. Vivekananda explained:
[Such religions] naturally believe in a Personal God who is purely anthropomorphic, who like a great potentate in this world is pleased with some and displeased with others. He is arbitrarily pleased with some people or races and showers blessings upon them. You will find that in almost every religion is the idea: "We are the favorites of God, and only by believing as we do, can you be taken into favor with Him." And, therefore, in the nature of things, [such] religions are bound to fight and quarrel with each other.[2]
However, there are a few features of Hinduism that are reminiscent of a "chosen people" concept. The caste system of India confers a degree of birth-right on higher castes such as the Brahmins, which some claim is sanctioned by God or by the scriptures.[citation needed] However, there is controversy within Hinduism.
[edit] Brahma Kumaris
There also exist a few cults or New Religious Movements that consider themselves to be the Chosen people, e.g., the Indian born Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University [BK]. The BKs believe in a strict hierarchy of human souls in which they occupy their members are top 8, 108, 16,108 and 900,000 most spiritual human beings, the only religion which God talks to in person and the only one that will both inherit and rule Heaven on Earth for 2,500 years.
[edit] Rastafari
Rastafaris beliefs contain six fundamental principles, including the complete chosenness of the black race in the eyes of Jah (God incarnate), rendering them supreme physically and spiritually to all other people. Many Rastas are also physical immortalists who believe the chosen few will continue to live forever in their current bodies. This idea of ever living (rather than everlasting) life is very strong and important.
Given Jewish biblical tradition and Ethiopian legend via Kebra Nagast, Rastas believe that Israel's King Solomon, together with Ethiopian Queen of Sheba, conceived a child which began the Solomonic line of kings in Ethiopia, rendering the African people as the true children of Israel, and thereby chosen. Reinforcement of this belief occurred when Beta Israel, Ethiopia's ancient Jewish community, were rescued from Sudanese famine and brought to Israel during Operation Moses in 1985.
[edit] Unification Church
Reverend Moon teaches that Korea is the chosen nation, selected to serve a divine mission. Korea, Moon says, was "chosen by God to be the birthplace of the leading figure of the age", [1] and to be the birthplace of "Heavenly Tradition", ushering in God's kingdom.
[edit] See also
- Moral superiority
- Chosen one
- God complex
- Messiah complex (self-concept)
- Ethnocentrism
- Argument from inconsistent revelations
- Religious intolerance
- Religious fanaticism
- Religious ecstasy
- Proselytism
- Brainwashing
- Theocracy
- 144,000
- Mandate of Heaven
- Master race
[edit] References
- ^ Black Theology and Black Power, pp. 139-140
- ^ Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda Vol. II.141 (18th Reprint 1995) ISBN 81-85301-75-1
