The Theology of Luis de Molina
Molinism is a view named after the counter-Reformation scholar Luis de Molina. Molina's views have recently been advocated by the likes of Christian philosophers William Lane Craig, JP Moreland, and Alvin Plantinga. Molinism is an attempt to reconcile God's sovereignty with human responsibility.
Here's a real brief explanation of Molinism. If you want a better one, check out Paul Copan's "That's Just Your Interpretation." Molinism is primarily a view of God's omniscience and providence.
The Molinist believes that God knows not only what will happen in this world, but would have happened in other possible worlds. So before God created this world, He knew all of the possible worlds that He could have ordained. He knew of all the possible persons that He could have created. (Just think about all the genetic combinations between just your parents and this is mind-staggering). Besides that He knew what every single person would freely do in any single situation. This is called a counterfactual. We talk like this all the time. For instance, if it is a nice warm day tomorrow, I will decide to play tennis. A couple Biblical examples of counterfactuals can be found in Matt. 11:20-24 and 1 Sam. 23:1:12.
Then the Molinist postulates that God degreed which world He would create. Therefore, He ordained which circumstances would come into our lives and He knows how we will freely response to these circumstances.
Why did God choose to create this world? Well, ultimately this world gave God the most glory and the most creatures that would freely and fully enjoy His glory.
Here's a real brief explanation of Molinism. If you want a better one, check out Paul Copan's "That's Just Your Interpretation." Molinism is primarily a view of God's omniscience and providence.
The Molinist believes that God knows not only what will happen in this world, but would have happened in other possible worlds. So before God created this world, He knew all of the possible worlds that He could have ordained. He knew of all the possible persons that He could have created. (Just think about all the genetic combinations between just your parents and this is mind-staggering). Besides that He knew what every single person would freely do in any single situation. This is called a counterfactual. We talk like this all the time. For instance, if it is a nice warm day tomorrow, I will decide to play tennis. A couple Biblical examples of counterfactuals can be found in Matt. 11:20-24 and 1 Sam. 23:1:12.
Then the Molinist postulates that God degreed which world He would create. Therefore, He ordained which circumstances would come into our lives and He knows how we will freely response to these circumstances.
Why did God choose to create this world? Well, ultimately this world gave God the most glory and the most creatures that would freely and fully enjoy His glory.
posted by Daniel | 1:36 PM
2 Comments:
Hey Daniel, I've been waiting for you to post on Molinism! Thanks for this (brief) overview of it. I'm intrigued...
Thanks for checking out my blog. Right now I'm just beginning to understand Molina's view of God's foreknowledge. I think one of the reasons this view is kinda unknown is because there aren't very many Molinist spokesmen at the popular level.
Unfortunately, philosophers like William Craig and Alvin Plantinga are kinda hard to read, let alone understand.
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