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Jumpstarter 9 of 10

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The Historic Faith Podcast  /  "The Balance of Faith and Works"  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 9
Clement calls the innocent and righteous “the elect of God,” and David suggests “select” might remove some mystery—God chooses those characterized by innocence, righteousness, and love; how does that understanding of election challenge both Calvinistic assumptions and the “pendulum swing” Dean describes where people won’t “allow God to intervene,” and what picture of God’s character emerges from Clement’s use of “elect”?
Another way to ask: Clement calls the innocent and righteous “the elect of God,” and David says it might mean God chooses people marked by innocence, righteousness, and love. How does this challenge both Calvinism and the idea that God never steps in, and what does it show about what God is like?

Direct Answer Clement’s “elect” language, as explained in the transcript, challenges Calvinistic ideas of arbitrary selection by tying God’s choosing to innocence, righteousness, and love, while also challenging anti-Calvinist “pendulum” reactions that deny God’s active involvement. The picture of God that emerges is a God who chooses relationally and morally—responding to love and obedience—while still truly acting and intervening.

Support from Transcript:

  • David quotes Clement 46: “cleave to the innocent and righteous since these are the elect of God,” then explains elect (eklog?) means “choose/select.”
  • David suggests saying “the select” helps: God selected those “because of their innocence… and righteous,” while still “not on their own power.”
  • He insists election is “not arbitrary… it’s because of how we live,” paraphrasing Chrysostom’s point.
  • Dean warns of a “pendulum” where people won’t “allow God to intervene into human affairs” because it might “sound like Calvin.”
  • Both hosts affirm God does intervene: God can “control a nation,” “intervenes in human affairs,” but “forcing someone to be saved is… out of the question.”
  • Clement also links election to love: “By love, the elect of God have been made perfect… In love has the Lord taken us to himself.”
Discussion Follow-ups How do you hold together God’s real choosing and human responsibility without making either side disappear? What would it mean for you to think of election less as a puzzle and more as a call to become “innocent and righteous” through God’s grace?

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