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Are there any Christian groups or denominations that hold a belief in selective election to salvation, in that some individuals are specifically and irresistibly called (Noah, Moses, 12 desciples, Paul etc.) for a particular purpose, but that most people are generally called "resistibly" and can accept or reject the gospel of their own free will? Essentially, free will exists allowing people to resist God's grace if they choose, except a certain few which God does not give a choice.

As this came up in conversation, I believe the other party was trying to reconcile differences between Calvinist and Arminian doctrines on salvation. I'm trying to determine if there are any relatively mainstream Christian groups or denominations that hold this sort of belief.

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    If you are talking about a selective election to salvation (as opposed to some specific ministry or task), it sounds like a fairly novel doctrine; but given there are thousands of denominations, it's pretty hard to prove a negative. Do you have any reason to think there might be?
    – bruised reed
    Commented Apr 20, 2016 at 14:50
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    Not sure why the down vote. It's a fairly straightforward question and because of the difficulty of proving a negative I specifically am asking for evidence of a positive. The topic came up in conversation and I am wondering if there are such beliefs held by any denominations or groups.
    – Andrew
    Commented Apr 20, 2016 at 14:53
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    I didn't downvote myself, but your question is not exactly clear (especially in view of the fact that the tags you've chosen are actually inappropriate) and doesn't seem to be useful. They are both valid criteria for downvoting.
    – bruised reed
    Commented Apr 20, 2016 at 14:56
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    I'll edit the question to be more clear. As for usefulness, it's useful to me, I'm here to get an academic answer to a question about Christianity.
    – Andrew
    Commented Apr 20, 2016 at 14:59
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    I don't think this question is too broad. Given the absence of any evidence that there are many such soteriologies, I don't see how the "too broad" close reason is relevant. "Too broad" means that "good answers would be too long for this format," not "finding an answer will be tough."
    – Nathaniel is protesting
    Commented May 20, 2016 at 13:47

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Although I honestly do not know too much about Roman Catholicism, it would seem they believe in "selective election" or predestined salvation.

This is an excerpt from Wikipedia: Predestination

Roman Catholicism

Roman Catholicism teaches the doctrine of predestination, while rejecting the classical Calvinist view known as "double predestination." This means that while it is held that those whom God has elected to eternal life will infallibly attain it, and are therefore said to be predestined to salvation by God, those who perish are not predestined to damnation. But Catholicism has been generally discouraging to human attempts to guess or predict the Divine Will.

The Catholic Encyclopedia entry on Predestination says:

God, owing to His infallible prescience of the future, has appointed and ordained from eternity all events occurring in time, especially those that directly proceed from, or at least are influenced by, man's free will.

I hope this helps!

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