Election: Individual vs. Corporate

There are many Arminian scholars who believe that corporate election excludes individuals from election. For example, New Testament theologian Ben Witherington remarks that apart from the word election (eklektos) occasionally being used to apply to the king in the Old Testament, election in the Old Testament is predominantly applied corporately to a people, not to individuals. The Hebrew word for "elect" (bahir) is normally used in the plural, and thus refers collectively of Israel. While there are times in Scripture where God chooses individuals for a specific historical task or purpose (e.g. Cyrus in Isaiah 45:1), these are passages that have nothing to do with God deciding who will be saved, thus, they are of no relevance to this topic. The corporate concept of election in the Old Testament is the context (he claims) which one must view the references to election in the New Testament. Supporters of the corporate view of election point to the New Testament language that explicitly discusses election, which they say is always corporate. One scholar says "one will look in vain for an overt use of the language of election unto salvation in reference to an individual."

This doctrine has been criticized by those who hold to individual election. Therefore, in order to counter the view, we provide resources below: