ELETTI e ELEZIONE. - The elect are those whom God chooses to be the recipients of his supernatural gifts in this life or the next. In the Old Testament, the elect are called the Hebrews, especially those who remained faithful to God in trials; in the New Testament, the members of the Church; in current theological language, those who are saved. In this latter sense, the saying “many are called, but few are chosen” (Mt. 20, 16, and 22, 14) was understood in the past, but today it is preferred to explain the word “elect” in the broader sense of chosen souls who serve God fervently. Thus the best biblical foundation is removed from the theory that holds the number of the predestined to be small in comparison with that of the reprobate. In reality, the question of the number of the elect cannot be resolved by valid proofs either in an optimistic or in a rigorist sense.
Election is the free act by which God determines to give the predestined the glory and the graces necessary to attain II. It is taught by the Church, especially in the two Councils that dealt with predestination (Quierzy 853, Valence 855, cf. Denz-U, 316, 322), and is affirmed by theologians on the grounds that predestination is gratuitous. For one is not predestined by reason of foreseen merits; therefore, one is so by a free choice of God. Whether election is distinct from predestination or not is strongly disputed (v. PREDESTINAZIONE).