Who Is Chosen? Thomas Humphries’ New Textbook Explores Four Theological Views On Salvation

Last updated on: July 20, 2017 at 5:39 am by Henry Karlson

Who Is Chosen? Thomas Humphries’ New Textbook Explores Four Theological Views On Salvation 2017-07-20T05:39:31-05:00 Henry Karlson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

One of the central concerns of Christian theology is that of soteriology, questions concerning salvation. Who will be saved? How will they have saved? How many people will be saved? Why will someone not be saved?

The Eschatological Judgment of Christ. Photo of book by Henry Karlson

In my recently published book, The Eschatological Judgement of Christ, I examined the Hans Urs von Balthasar’s take on these questions. Many have misunderstood his position as that of universalism, that because he hoped all would be saved, he believed all would be saved. In reality, his position is much more complex. He believed it is possible that all would be saved, but he also believed, because of human free will, that some would resist salvation and as they do so, they would face the eschatological judgment of Christ and end up among those who are said to be damned. Balthasar ended up agnostic in regards to the question of whether all or some would be saved, and he believed that this could be the only Christian positions this side of the eschaton. My book serves to introduce and explain Balthasar’s position, correcting the misunderstanding which has been spread about his beliefs.

Cover For Who Is Chosen from Wipf and Stock

Balthasar certainly is a major figure in modern Christian theology. His eschatological position, however, is one of many possible ones which could be held by a Christian. Historically, many answers have been given, some which have attained greater acceptance than others. For those who have not examined the basic theological contours surrounding these questions, I would recommend Thomas Humphries’s new, short textbook, Who Is Chosen? In it, he gives the basic positions of four major Christian theologians from Christian history: Origen, St. Augustine, Calvin and Balthasar, explaining how and why they came to the conclusions which they did. The book does not seek to answer the question for the reader as much as introduce the important contours of historical theology, showing the strengths and weaknesses of each of the positions. Thomas Humphries offers a good, concise, summary of each figure, providing the reader with little to no knowledge about them with enough background to grasp their position as well as offering others basic reminders of the various positions and how they relate to each other. The work is written for students in mind, but it will be a good resource for anyone wanting insight on each of the four theologians at their fingertips, with enough quotations from primary sources that an interested reader will know where to turn if they want to read more from a particular theologian’s oeuvre.

Stay in touch! Like A Little Bit of Nothing on Facebook:

A Little Bit of Nothing

Eschatological Judgment of Christ

Previous Post

July 19, 2017

God Is Justice: To Follow God, We Must Act Through Justice

Next Post

July 24, 2017 On The Eucharist: Conclusion

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Abraham abuse Aesthetics AI Aliens Ambrose Ancestors and Everything Andrew Angels Animals Anne Anthony Antisemitism apologetics Apophatic Apostle John Aquinas Artificial Intelligence Asanga Ascension Asceticism Assumption Atheism Attachment Augustine Authority Avarice Balthasar Baptism Beauty Biden birthright citizenship Bishops Black History Books Buddhism Bulgakov Byzantine Calendar C.S. Lewis Calcidius Catholic Catholicism Catholicism Celibacy Charity Chastity children Chrismation Christ Christmas Christology Church Climate Change Common Good Communion Confession Confirmation Conscience Constantine conventions conversion councils Covid Creation Cross Dead Death Death Penalty Debate Deception Demagogues Demons Desert Monks Desert Mothers Desire destruction development Dialogue Dignity Dionsyius Dionysius Discipline Diversity Division Doctor Who doctrine dogma Dormition Dualism Easter Easter Series Ecumenical Councils Ecumenism Education Election Empathy Environment Error Eschatology eschaton Eternity Ethics Eucharist Evangelism Eve Evil evolution Faeries Faith Fear femininity Ficino Florence Florensky Folktale Fools Forgiveness Freedom Future gender Gentile Gentiles Glory Gnostic God gods Good Samaritan Goodness Gospel Government Grace Great Fast Guns Hate healing Health Heaven Hell Hellenism Heresy Hierarchy Hildegard Hinduism History Holiness Holy Spirit Holy Week Hope Horror Human rights humanity Humility hypocrisy ICE icon icons Identification Identity Idol II Nicea Immigration incarnation Individualism Informal Reflections Inklings Intention Inter-Religious Interfaith Internet Interpretation Intrinsic evil Irenaeus Islam Israel Jacob Jerome Jesus Jews John Chrysostom John of Damascus John the Baptist Joseph Judaism justice Justification kenosis Kindnesss Kingdom of God Kingdom of Heaven Law Law of Moses Lazarus Leaf by Niggle Lent Lenten Reflection Liberation Theology Lies Life Listen Literature Liturgy locutions Logic Logos Love Marriage Martyrs Mary Mass Maximos The Confessor Meanness Meditation Mercy Middle Path Migrants Mind Miracles Miriam Morals Moses Movies Music Muslims Myths Names Nationalism Native Americans New Year Nicea Nicholas Nothing Novatian Obedience Occam's Razor Ordination Origen Original Sin Orthodox orthopraxis Pagans Palamas Palm Sunday Paradise Paschaltide Paul Peace Pentecost person Peter piety PKD Plato pluralism Plurality Poem Poetry Poiltics Politics Poor Pope Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV Post Office Prayer Pride Pro-life Prodigal Son propaganda Prophecy Prophets Providence Putin Racism Reading Reason Reflection Refugees Relationships Religion Religion Series Religious Liberty Repent Republicans Rest Resurrection Rich Rites Russia Sacraments Saints Salvation Salvian Santa Science Scripture Self-Giving Sexuality Sibyl Sick Silence Sin Singlehood Social Justice Society Sodom Solovyov Speculations Spiritual Reflection St. Cyril of Alexandria St. Justin Martyr Suffering Sunday of the Paralytic Man Sunday of the Samaritan Woman Superhero Supreme Court Teaching Technology Thanksgiving The Father the Universe Theological Reflection Theology Theosis Theotokos Thomas Timaeus Time Tolerenace Tolkien Tradition Transfiguration Trinity Trump Truth Uncategorized Unity Universities USCCB Value Vatican II Vegetarian Vices Violence Virtue Vocations War Water Welcome Wisdom Womanhood Women Work World View Worship Writing Zacchaeus

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz