A Review of the Development of Reflections on the Doctrine of Israeli Chosen People

The doctrine of the chosen people is a fundamental one in the Jewish tradition which has been understood and interpreted differently in each intellectual-religious period. During the prophetic period until Apocrypha and Psudapocrypha era, we frequently find the moral advice for the people to repent of the sins rooted in arrogance caused by belief in chosenness as well as the idea of "rest of the people" and "the righteous". From the advent of Christianity to the Middle Ages, theological debates on the true "chosen people" were more seriously followed. The Kabbalistic view of the exiled people of Israel, with a cosmic mission to save the world and the mankind, is a turning point in the approach to the question of the election of the people. In modern ages, there are more critical contemplations on the doctrine itself. Reflections range from denial to supposedly rational defending of the doctrine of election. Secular intellectuals usually deny the ancient belief of their people, and religious pluralists try to justify it rationally with the result completely different from the original. The meaning of chosenness and the chosen people have changed along with changes in related debates.