Uitverkiesing en etiek

Election and ethics The doctrine of election is of fundamental importance in the Reformed tradition. During the past century much theological labour was focused on this dogma by leading theologians – theological research that unfortunately was hardly ever noticed by preachers and lay people. In this article special attention is paid to the theology of Oepke Noordmans in this regard. God’s chosen people are the pick of the bunch (1 Cor. 1:26-29), because the doctrine of election rather proclaims that God is not fastidious at all. His choice is motivated merely by our misery. It is argued that dogmatics and ethics (respectively: faith and life) are intimately related. The transition from doctrine to ethics that occurs at the beginning of Romans 12 is taken as point of departure. The well-known Reformed adage, soli Deo gloria is identified as the very heart of both Reformed dogmatics and ethics