Unconditional Election

Unconditional election is the Calvinist teaching that before God created the world, he chose to save some people according to his own purposes and apart from any conditions related to those persons. The counter-view is conditional election, the belief that God chooses, for eternal salvation, those whom He foresees will have faith in Christ. Unconditional election is drawn from the doctrines of salvation adopted by Augustine of Hippo, was first codified in the Belgic Confession (1561), re-affirmed in the Canons of Dort (1619), which arose from the Quinquarticular Controversy, and is represented in the various Reformed confessions such as the Westminster Standards (1646). It is one of the five points of Calvinism and is often linked with predestination.