Chosen and Unchosen

<p><strong>Winner of the 2011 RBY Scott Award from the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies/Société canadienne des études bibliques</strong></p><p></p><p>The God of the Bible favors a national people Israel and this is at the cost of the other nations. In fact not being Israel usually means humiliation or destruction or simply being ignored by God. Reading the text with the grain or placing oneself within the chosen's perspective may seem very well until one considers the unchosen. There is much regarding the unchosen that has not been explored in scholarly research but in this important work Lohr attempts to make sense of the question of election and nonelection in the OT as a Christian interpreter and with a concern for the history of interpretation and Jewish-Christian dialogue.</p><p></p><p>He also corrects a Christian tendency to read election and nonelection as love and damnation respectively a perception that is altogether foreign to the OT itself. The unchosen are important to the overall world view of Scripture and although election entails exclusion and God's love for the one people Israel is a love in contrast to others it does not follow that the unchosen fall outside of the economy of God's purposes his workings or his ways. The unchosen often face important tests of their own and have a responsibility to God and the chosen however much this idea defies modern-day notions of fairness. It is a central idea of Scripture that already appears in the original call of and promises made to Abram and something that if ignored places our larger understanding of God at risk.</p><p></p><p>Equally important if contemporary faith communities (both Jewish and Christian) form their understanding of the other on a faulty reading of Scripture regarding the unchosen chaos and hatred can ensue. The political and religious climate of our contemporary world has never presented a more important time to get this matter right. Scholars and students alike are finding Chosen and Unchosen to be an indispensable resource as they mull over these difficult questions.</p>