Molinism
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Lifting The Veil That Covers Molinism’s Necessary Counterfactuals Of Creaturely Freedom
Molinists and Calvinists agree over the soundness of the following argument, where x is a future creaturely choice. 1. Necessarily, if God foreknows x, then x will happen2. God foreknows x3. Therefore, x will happen Molinists and Calvinists even agree that the following argument is not just unsound but invalid: 1. Necessarily, if God foreknows… Continue reading
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Subtle Yet Significant Differences Between Molinism And Theological Determinism. Does It Really Matter To The Reformed Tradition?
After writing this article, a number of questions came my way from committed Calvinists. This brief installment is a result of some of those correspondences. Molinism affords a strong view of divine providence along with a principle of free will such that if Luis freely chooses the chili dog at the carnival, then it is… Continue reading
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Of God’s Eternal Decree In Light Of Four Commentaries on WCF 3.2. Have we drifted?
It has been my contention for many years that the doctrine of God’s eternal decree is widely misunderstood, even unwittingly denied, within the Reformed tradition. Having served on a pastoral search committee in the OPC and candidates and credentials team in the PCA at the presbyterial level, I’ve seen a fair share of candidates for… Continue reading
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Molinism vs. Theological Determinism Discussion
Arne Verster graciously hosted me on Apologetics Central to discuss Molinism and Theological Determinism. Continue reading
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An Essential Tenet Of Reformed Theology *Is* Determinism. The Reformed Need To Embrace It.
When it comes to the question of whether Reformed theology entails a principle of determinism, either disagreement abounds among Reformed theologians or else many within the tradition are talking by each other. Perhaps some are in theological agreement over this essential aspect of Reformed theology while expressing themselves in conflicting ways. Perhaps. Regardless, there is… Continue reading
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Apologetics Discussion
Arne Verster of Apologetics Central and I discussed apologetics (last evening for me, this morning for Arne who lives in South Africa). This article of mine on the failure of classical apologetics was the impetus for our discussion. Continue reading
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5 Point Molinists & Pervasive Confusion
I have been convinced for well over a decade not only that many professing Calvinists are latent Molinists but that most are. Here we find what I believe to be a representative sample of how Calvinists relate free will to the decree of God. The author of the piece earned a Masters in Divinity (minor… Continue reading
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The Logical-Possible Chasm of Molinism
Consider counterfactual of creaturely freedom (CCF) p: If person S were in state of affairs C, S would freely A. C represents the relevant history of the world prior to S freely doing A. Within Molinism, given C, S always As. Therefore, if God wills S would freely A, God need only actualize S in… Continue reading
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From whence come intentions, and how is compatibilism any better in this regard?
This post aims to address how unchosen intentions can be rational and person-relevant from a compatibilist perspective but not from a libertarian perspective. Even though morally significant intentions are formed within the agent, they are not formed strictly by the agent, being ultimately sourced and caused from without the agent. Secondly, libertarian freedom would undermine… Continue reading
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Natural Knowledge or Free Knowledge of CCFs?
Natural Knowledge: God’s knowledge of all necessary truths, including all possibilities logically prior to his creative decree. Definition from Divine Foreknowledge Four Views, Edited by Beilby & Eddy, page 211. God knows all possible worlds according to his natural knowledge. Yet many Reformed thinkers tend to extend natural knowledge to the objects of counterfactuals of… Continue reading
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Assume I’m a Molinist!
Why are these three points insufficient for human responsibility from an Arminian perspective? Assume I were a Molinist asking the question! All three of those points are compatible with God’s eternal decree. Accordingly, how does a Reformed view of divine decree logically contradict moral accountability given that 1-3 would appear sufficient for moral accountability? To… Continue reading
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Molinist Counterfactual Backfires
Christian compatibilists and incompatibilists agree that man is morally responsible for his choices, and God has exhaustive foreknowledge of the same. Therefore, if man has free will, it must be compatible with God’s exhaustive foreknowledge. “It seems to me much clearer(!)” – and to the rest who desire to make sense of God’s knowledge of… Continue reading
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Molinism, Dualism and Omniscience
At the heart of Molinism is Middle Knowledge (MK), God’s knowledge of true counterfactuals of creaturely freedom (CCFs) – i.e. God’s knowledge of what creatures would freely do under all sets of circumstances. Now, of course, Augustinians also believe that if there are CCFs, then an omniscient God must have knowledge of them. However, unlike… Continue reading
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Middle Knowledge and Calvinism
Middle Knowledge (MK) is God’s knowledge of all true counterfactuals of creaturely freedom (CCF). As the word middle suggests, this knowledge falls between other types of knowledge. Specifically, MK is situated between God’s natural knowledge, which is God’s knowledge of all necessary truths and possibilities and God’s free knowledge, which is (or as I will… Continue reading
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Free Will and Compatibilism, a brief sketch
Discussions on “free will” inevitably lead to analysis of (a) moral responsibility, (b) the limits of metaphysical freedom – from autonomy and pure contingency to necessity and causality, and (c) divine foreknowledge. What is indubitable is that moral agents, when they choose, are morally accountable. Therefore, if determinism is true, then determinism must be compatible… Continue reading