Ephraim E. Urbach astutely located two different rabbinic views of the election of Israel. The first view he called "cosmic-eternal," defining it as one that teaches that "the election of Israel was conceived together with the creation of the world," thus making it "something absolute and not contingent on any stipulations whatsoever." The second view he called "historical-relative," defining it as one that teaches that election is "connected to stipulations and conditions, and in which the people fulfills an active role wherein it is also the elector (הבוחר).

The Election of Israel, David Novak, pg. 203-204

A Theologico-Political Treatise (1670), Baruch Spinoza

Lastly, if anyone wishes to maintain that the Jews, from this or from any other cause, have been chosen by God forever, I will not gainsay him if he will admit that this choice, whether temporary or eternal, has no regard, in so far as it is peculiar to the Jews, to aught but dominion and physical advantages (for by which alone can one nation be distinguished from another), whereas in regard to intellect and true virtue, every nation is on a par with the rest, and God has not in these respects chosen one people rather than another.

The Transvaluation of Values (1898), Ahad Ha'am

• It is almost universally admitted that the Jews have a genius for morality, and in this respect are superior to all other nations. It matters not how this happened, or in what way this trait developed: we certainly find that in the very earliest times the Jewish people became conscious of its superiority in this respect over the surrounding nations. This consciousness found its expression, in accordance with the spirit of that age, in the religious dogma that God had chosen out Israel to make him high above all nations." But this election of Israel was not to be a domination based on force, for Israel is "the fewest of all peoples." It was for moral development that Israel was chosen by God, "to be a peculiar people unto Himself .... and to keep all His commandments" ; that is, to give concrete expression in every generation to the highest type of morality, to submit always to the yoke of the most exacting moral obligations, and this without any regard to the gain or loss of the rest of mankind, but solely for the sake of the existence of this supreme type.
   
• It is only during the last century, since the French Revolution raised the banner of equality and fraternity among all men, and made the general well- being the supreme moral ideal, that Jewish apologists have begun to be ashamed of the idea of Israel's election in its old sense. Finding this idea opposed to that of absolute equality and the pursuit of the general well-being, they have tried to adapt Judaism to modern requirements by inventing the famous theory of "the mission of Israel among the nations." Thus they reconcile the idea of the national election with that of human equality, by making the one a means to the other. Israel is, indeed (so they argue), the chosen people; but for what end was he chosen? To spread good-will and well-being throughout the world, by teaching mankind the way of life according to that true Law which was entrusted to him for this very purpose. Now there is no need to repeat here the oft-repeated criticism of this compromise, that it has no foundation in actuality, and rests entirely on a metaphysical dogma. It is enough to point out that the Jewish people as a whole has always interpreted its "mission" simply as the performance of its own duties, without regard to the external world, and has regarded its election, from the earliest times to the present day, as the end of all else, and not as a means to the happiness of the rest of the world.

The Future of the American Jew (1949), Mordecai Kaplan

• The idea of Israel as the Chosen People must...be understood as belonging to a thought-world which we no longer inhabit...Nowadays for any people to call itself "chosen" is to be guilty of self-infatuation. (p. 211)
• The traditional basis for the belief that Israel was God's Chosen People was the assumption that the miraculous events recorded in the Torah concerning the Patriarchs and their descendants in Egypt represented factual truth...The modern-minded Jew cannot consider the miraculous events recorded in the Torah as in the rest of the Bible as other than legendary. (p. 214-215)
• [Early Reformer] Kaufmann Kohler's Jewish Theology [justifies] the claim of the Jews being a chosen people:
  1. Jews possess hereditary traits which qualify them to be superior to the rest of the world in the realm of the religious and the ethical
  2. Their ancestors were the first to achieve those religious and ethical conceptions and ideals which will, in the end, become the common possession of mankind and help them to achieve salvation.
  3. Jews possess the truest form of the religious and ethical ideals of mankind
  4. Jews are entrusted with the task of communicating those ideals to the rest of the world.
• First, the proposition that Jews possess unusual hereditary traits which entitle them to be God's elect is based on a series of unproven generalizations concerning certain qualities as being characteristic only of Jews, and on biological assumptions concerning hereditary, which are entirely unwarranted...If Jews were to adopt the foregoing reinterpretation of the doctrine of election, they would, by implication, assent to the most pernicious theory of racial hereditary yet advanced to justify racial inequality and the right of a master race to dominate all the rest of mankind. (p. 215-216)
• Secondly, for Jews to claim sole credit for having given mankind those religious and ethical concepts which hold out the promise of a better world smacks of arrogance. The Greek philosophers, the Stoics in the Roman period, the humanists of the Renaissance, and the rationalists of the 18th century have made highly significant contributions to spiritual and moral truth. The religious philosophers of the Hindus antedate all others...Even if Jews were the first to enunciate the great moral and spiritual teachings, it would be immodest of them to boast about it...The first-born has no right to claim that he is better or more beloved than the other children. Special privileges no long attach to primogeniture. (p. 216)
• Thirdly, for Jews to maintain that they possess the truest form of truth would be understandable if they still believed that the teachings of their religion are immutable and infallible...The very assumption of a predetermined and permanent superiority, no matter in what respect, does not lend itself to reinterpretation...By no kind of dialectics is it possible to remove the odium of comparison from any reinterpretation of an idea which makes invidious distinctions between on people and another. (p. 216-217)
• Finally, the fourth proposition confused the doctrine of Israel's election, as expressed in the overwhelming majority of biblical allusions which deal with Israel's relation to God, with the doctrine of Israel's mission which is the subject of less than a dozen passages in the second part of Isaiah. There is not the slightest implication in the multitude of references to Israel as a Chosen People that it is expected to fulfill the mission of making God known to the nations. (p.217)
• The assumption by an individual or group that it is the chosen and indispensable vehicle of God's grace to others is arrogance no matter how euphemistically one phrases the claim to being chosen.  (p. 219)

The Essence of Judaism, Leo Baeck

The matter when one fixes the date of Israel's birth and No matter what you want may take of its development, one thing is certain: it's predominant aspect from the very beginning was its ethical character, the importance it attached to the moral law. Ethics constitute its essence. Monotheism is the result of a realization of the absolute character of the moral law; moral consciousness teaches about God...Only in Israel did an ethical monotheism exist, and wherever else it is found later, it has been derived directly or indirectly from Israel. The nature of this religion was conditioned by the existence of the people of Israel, and so it became one of the nations that have a mission to fulfill. That is what is meant by the election of Israel. Hence this word primarily expresses a historical fact: there was assigned to this people a peculiar position in the world by which it is distinguished from all other peoples. (p. 59-61)

Abraham Joshua Heschel

• "Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, a holy people" (Exodus 19:6), was the reason for Israel's election, the meaning of its distinction. (God in Search of Man, p. 289-290)
• From the beginnings of Israelite religion, the belief that God had chosen this particluar people to carry out [God's] mission has been both a cornerstone of Hebrew faith and a refuge in moments of distress. And yet, the prophets felt that to many of their contemporaries this cornerstone was a stumbling block; this refuge, an escape.  They had to remind the people that chosenness must not be mistake as divine favoritism or immunity from chastisement, but, on the contrary, that it mean being more seriously exposed to divine judgment and chastisement. (The Prophets, p. 33)

The Pittsburgh Platform - 1885

• We recognize in the Bible the record of the consecration of the Jewish people to its mission as the priest of the one God.
• We recognize, in the modern era of universal culture of heart and intellect, the approaching of the realization of Israel s great Messianic hope for the establishment of the kingdom of truth, justice, and peace among all men. We consider ourselves no longer a nation, but a religious community, and therefore expect neither a return to Palestine, nor a sacrificial worship under the sons of Aaron, nor the restoration of any of the laws concerning the Jewish state.
• We acknowledge that the spirit of broad humanity of our age is our ally in the fulfillment of our mission, and therefore we extend the hand of fellowship to all who cooperate with us in the establishment of the reign of truth and righteousness among men.

The Columbus Platform - 1937

• Judaism is the soul of which Israel is the body.
• We affirm the obligation of all Jewry to aid in its upbuilding as a Jewish homeland by endeavoring to make it not only a haven of refuge for the oppressed but also a center of Jewish culture and spiritual life.
• Throughout the ages it has been Israel's mission to witness to the Divine in the face of every form of paganism and materialism. We regard it as our historic task to cooperate with all men in the establishment of the kingdom of God, of universal brotherhood, Justice, truth and peace on earth. This is our Messianic goal.

Reform Judaism: A Centenary Perspective - 1976

• The People Israel -- The Jewish people and Judaism defy precise definition because both are in the process of becoming. Jews, by birth or conversion, constitute an uncommon union of faith and peoplehood. Born as Hebrews in the ancient Near East, we are bound together like all ethnic groups by language, land, history, culture, and institutions. But the people of Israel is unique because of its involvement with God and its resulting perception of the human condition. Throughout our long history our people has been inseparable from its religion with its messianic hope that humanity will be redeemed.

A Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism - 1999

• We are Israel, a people aspiring to holiness, singled out through our ancient covenant and our unique history among the nations to be witnesses to God's presence.