Reformed doctrine of predestination - Boettner - VII - Chapter 11 concluded

Required reading
Reformed Doctrine of Predestination by Loraine Boettner (Available from Amazon or free on the internet, here for example).  Conclude Chapter 11 by reading points 6 to 11.

My summary
Now we conclude the chapter on unconditional election.

In point six infralapsarianism and supralapsarianism are discussed and Boettner rejects supralapsarianism.

Then points seven to eleven attempt to show that many are chosen and few are condemned:
(i) Scripture speaks of a redeemed world or race;
(ii) Scripture speaks of the vastness of the multitude described in heaven;
(iii) Historical evidence is that the world is growing better;
(iv) If children who die in infancy are saved then heaven will be filled with people.

What grabbed me
Concerning the matter that more are elect than non-elect, I thought some of Boettner's arguments were on very shaky ground.

Firstly, his point about a redeemed 'world' used texts where I believe the word 'world' indicates that people from 'all nations' are part of the redeemed people, not that 'whole' nations will be saved.

Also unconvincing was Boettner's handling of Matthew 7 where Jesus tells us that many will enter through the wide gate compared to few through the narrow gate.  Boettner said Jesus was speaking only concerning the first century, not throughout history.  I see no basis for that in the text.

Thirdly, I couldn't believe that Boettner tried to make the point that the world is growing better.  Maybe Boettner mixed in very closed circles and didn't read the news?  Furthermore, the statistics he provides rather than proving his point disprove it: 'According to late statistics, 1950, Christianity has a considerably larger number of nominal adherents than the combined total of any other two world religions. These figures state that there are approximately 640,000,000 Christians, 300,000,000 Confucianists (including Taoists), 230,000,000 Hindus, 220,000,000 Mohammedans, 150,000,000 Buddhists, 125,000,000 Animists, 20,000,000 Shintoists, and 15,000,000 Jews.'  Yes, Christianity is greater than even two other religions on their own, but if we group all religions into saved and unsaved categories, then the Christians are certainly inferior by Boettner's own statistics.

Now it may be true that more are saved than unsaved, particularly if one does believe in infant salvation (which I do), but I do think that we should not minimise the huge numbers of those who are lost.  Particularly with arguments such as those given above.

Next week's reading
Read Chapter 12 (Limited atonement).

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.