Chosen People

Various groups 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. 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; as do other religions that are built on those same laws.

Purposes of being chosen

The sense of being a chosen people occurs in both religious and nonreligious contexts. The largely Christian slaveholders in the United States saw themselves as chosen by God to keep and sell slaves. No less were most of the Abolitionist convinced that slavery was an abomination to the Christian faith and many were Protestant clerics. The Nazis considered the "Aryan race" to be superior, and believed it was their mission to dominate over all races they considered "inferior." Many religious and charitable organizations consider themselves to be chosen by God to care for the sick and the suffering.

Chosen to receive a message

In many religions it is believed that the God has revealed a message to a prophet or messenger. Some of these religions, such as most forms of Christianity and Islam, teach that their path is the only path to salvation.

In other religions, such as some forms of Christianity and Islam, as well as Judaism, Hinduism, and Sikhism, it is believed that the followers of one's faith do not have an exclusive path to God. They hold that people of other faiths may also reach God in their own way.

Ethnocentrism

Views of being a chosen people are sometimes connected with superiority and ethnocentrism. The accusation of a chosen people can be used to justify or create cultural imperialism, racism, and xenophobia. However the argument by religious Christians and Jews alike is that the chosen status by definition is a humbling one, as it carries responsibility and sacrifice, rather than simple privilege.

Christianity

Expressionisms 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 non-Christian 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.

The 144,000

The 144,000 are mentioned three times in the Book of Revelation:

Revelation 7:3-8 (ESV)

saying: "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until after we have sealed the servants of God on their foreheads." And I heard the number of the sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.

Revelation 14:1

Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.

Revelation 14:3-5

And they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. For it is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.

The numbers 12,000 and 144,000 are variously interpreted in traditional Christianity. Some, taking the numbers in Revelation to be symbolic, believe it represents all of God's people throughout history in the heavenly Church. Others insist the numbers 12,000 and 144,000 are literal numbers and that the 144,000 people who are descendants of Jacob (also called Israel in the Bible) have a distinct role at the time of the end of the world.

Specific Christian denominations

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.

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).

Mormon doctrine teaches that Mormons are "The kin blood of the Jews." 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 that most members of the faith are in the tribe of Ephraim or the tribe of Manasseh.

See Mormonism and Judaism.

Judaism

In Judaism, chosenness is the belief that the Jews are a people chosen to be in a covenant with God. The idea is not connected with tribal groupings as they are traditionally understood, as 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.

Islam

Some Muslims believe Islam is exclusive to them, and some believe it is open to everyone.

Muslims who believe that Muslims, Christians and Jews all serve the same God cite Qur'anic verses such as:

Say, 'People of the Book! come to a proposition which is the same for us and you - that we should worship none but God and not associate any partners with Him and not take one another as lords besides God.' If they turn away, say, 'Bear witness that we are Muslims.'(Surah Al 'Imran; 3:64)

Today all good things have been allowed to you. And the food of those given the Book is also allowed to you and your food is allowed to them. So are chaste women from among the muminun and chaste women of those given the Book before you, once you have given them their dowries in marriage, not in fornication or taking them as lovers. But as for anyone who rejects faith, his actions will come to nothing and in the akhira he will be among the losers. (Surat al-Ma'ida: 5:5)

Among the people of the Book there are some who have faith in God and in what has been sent down to you and what was sent down to them, and who are humble before God. They do not sell God's Signs for a paltry price. Such people will have their reward with their Lord. And God is swift at reckoning. (Surah Al 'Imran; 3:199)

Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and fair admonition, and argue with them in the kindest way. Your Lord knows best who is misguided from His way. And He knows best who are guided. (Surat an-Nahl; 16:125)

...You will find the people most affectionate to those who have faith are those who say, 'We are Christians.' That is because some of them are priests and monks and because they are not arrogant. (Surat al-Ma'ida; 5:82)

Only argue with the People of the Book in the kindest way - except in the case of those of them who do wrong - saying, 'We have faith in what has been sent down to us and what was sent down to you. Our God and your God are one and we submit to Him.'(Surat al-'Ankabut; 29:46)

...There is a community among the People of the Book who are upright. They recite God's Signs throughout the night, and they prostrate. They have iman in God and the Last Day, and enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, and compete in doing good. They are among the salihun. You will not be denied the reward for any good thing you do. God knows those who have taqwa. (Surah Al 'Imran: 3:113-115)

Verily! Those who believe and those who are Jews and Christians, and Sabians, whoever believes in Allâh and the Last Day and does righteous good deeds shall have their reward with their Lord, on them shall be no fear, nor they grieve. (Surat al-Baqara; 2:62)

Muslims who believe Islam is in an adversarial relationship with Christianity and Judaism, cite other verses such as:

O you who believe! Do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely God does not guide the unjust people. (Qur'an 5:51)

You People of the Book! Why do you clothe Truth with falsehood and conceal the Truth while you have knowledge? Surah 3.71

Can you, o you men of Faith, entertain the hope that they will believe in you? Seeing that a party of them heard the Word of God and perverted it knowingly after they understood it. Surah 2.75

Islamic supersessionism presents Muslims as the only people chosen to carry the true word of God.. 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 tahri fi-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."

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.

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 about whether the caste system is really part of the Hindu religion, or is merely an outdated social institution.^{[citation needed]}

After the interactions with the West Asian religions, at present there exist a few cults or New Religious Movements that consider themselves to be the Chosen people, e.g., the Brahma Kumari World Spiritual Organisation [B.K.]. The B.K.s believe in a strict hierarchy of human souls in which they occupy the top 8, 108, 16,108 and 900,000 positions, which comprise the trunk of the human world tree. All other religions are seen as branches of the tree, but a necessary part of the tree's beauty.

Chinese Mandate of Heaven

Mandate of Heaven (天命 Pīnyīn: Tiānmìng) was a traditional Chinese sovereignty concept of legitimacy used to support the rule of the kings of the Zhou Dynasty and later the Emperors of China. Heaven would bless the authority of a just ruler, but Heaven would be displeased with an unwise ruler and give the Mandate to someone else. "Mandate of Heaven" was also the very first era name of the Qin Dynasty.

The Mandate has no time limitations, but a performance standard. The Duke of Zhou explained to the people of Shang, that if their king had not misused his power, his Mandate would not have been taken away. This means that a legitimate emperor need not be of noble birth, and in fact, dynasties as powerful as the Han dynasty and Ming dynasty were founded by people of modest birth.

The concept was first found in written records from the words of the Duke of Zhou, younger brother of King Wu of Zhou and regent for King Wu's infant son King Cheng of Zhou. He is usually considered to be the first supporter of the idea. The notion of the Mandate of Heaven was also invoked by Mencius, a very influential Chinese scholar[1].

Eventually, as Chinese political ideas developed further, the Mandate was linked to the notion of the dynastic cycle. Times of floods or famines were considered divine signs from the heaven in violation of the Mandate.

The Shang and Zhou

The Mandate of Heaven concept was first used by the Zhou dynasty to justify their overthrow of the Shang dynasty and would be used by many succeeding dynasties to come.

The Shang legitimized rule by family connections to divine power. It was believed their founders had been deities, and their descendants went to join them in Heaven. Heaven was very active and interfering, in mysterious ways, in earthly rule, as shown by the divination texts preserved from the later part of the Shang, the oracle bones. The Mandate of Heaven may be thought of as changing this divination legitimization to a feudal one.

Rastafari

Rastafari 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.

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," himself,[1] and to be the birthplace of "Heavenly Tradition," ushering in God's kingdom.

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