What is Molinism and is it biblical?

Answer

Molinism is named after the 16th-century Jesuit, Luis de Molina. Molinism is a philosophical system that aims to reconcile the sovereignty of God and the free will of humanity. At the core of Molinism lies the belief that God is entirely sovereign while humans possess free will in a libertarian sense. Molinism aims to steer clear of what is known as “theological determinism,” which asserts that God predetermines who will be saved or condemned without considering their own free choices. Prominent advocates of Molinism today include William Lane Craig and Alvin Plantinga.

The key tenet of Molinism is the concept of middle knowledge (scientia media) attributed to God. According to Molinism, God’s knowledge comprises three logical moments. These “moments” of knowledge are not to be interpreted as chronological but rather as “logical.” This means that one moment is not temporally prior to another; instead, they are logically connected. The Molinist distinguishes between three distinct moments of knowledge known as natural knowledge, middle knowledge, and free knowledge.

1. Natural Knowledge – This refers to God’s knowledge of all necessary and possible truths, encompassing all potential scenarios. In this context, God comprehends every conceivable cause-and-effect relationship, logical truths, and moral principles. This knowledge is not influenced by God’s will, a point that few theologians would dispute.

2. Middle Knowledge – This pertains to God’s understanding of the choices a free being would make in any given situation. It involves what philosophers term counterfactuals of creaturely freedom, which are statements about the actions a being with free will would take in various circumstances. Similar to natural knowledge, middle knowledge is not subject to God’s will.

3. Free Knowledge – This is the knowledge God has of the actual world He chose to create based on His will and middle knowledge.

Is the “moment” where God actually acts. Between His knowledge of all that is or could be, and all that actually comes to be, is God’s purposeful intervention and creation.

4. Free Knowledge – This is God’s knowledge of what He decided to create: all things that “actually are.” God’s free knowledge is His knowledge of the actual world as it is. This knowledge is completely dependent on God’s will.

Using middle knowledge, Molinism attempts to demonstrate that all of God’s knowledge is self-contained, but it is ordered to allow for the possibility of man’s free will. In other words, man is entirely free, but God is also entirely sovereign—He is absolutely in control of all that happens, and yet humanity’s choices are not coerced.

According to Molinism, God omnisciently knows what you would have been like had you lived in Africa instead of Australia, or had a car accident that paralyzed you at age 9. He knows how the world would have been altered had John F. Kennedy not been assassinated. More importantly, He knows who would choose to be saved and who would not, in each of those varying circumstances.

Therefore, it is from this (middle) knowledge that God chooses to create. God has middle knowledge of all possible worlds, and He chooses to create the world that aligns with His ultimate desires. While a person is genuinely free, God is genuinely in control of who is or is not saved. Molinists differ on how God defines His underlying desires. For instance, some believe God is aiming for the maximum number of people to be saved. Others believe God creates to maximize some other divine goal.

Is Molinism supported by the Bible?

Molinists refer to various texts to establish that God possesses “middle knowledge.” For instance, Matthew 11:21–24 where Jesus rebukes Chorazin and Bethsaida. Here, Jesus informs those cities that “if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” This kind of “if-then” scenario is a key aspect of middle knowledge.

As an example of divine knowledge of what would happen given a different set of circumstances, Molinism sees this verse as evidence that the doctrine of middle knowledge is true.

Strictly speaking, Molinism is a view that cannot be refuted or defended wholly on biblical grounds. The same is true of other philosophical-theological systems such as Calvinism or Arminianism. Middle knowledge is a philosophical concept that attempts to uphold both the sovereignty of God and the free will of man. At the same time, it can be evaluated on multiple levels, including biblically and philosophically.

Molinism is often criticized by both Calvinists and Arminians. Calvinists claim that holding to human free will denies God’s absolute sovereignty. Arminians claim that if God is in control of who is or is not saved, then free will is merely an illusion. Molinists would argue that both sovereignty and free will are biblically represented and real, and that middle knowledge allows both a God who is completely in control and a humanity who is completely free.

Not all people feel Molinism is the best way to think about God’s sovereignty and human free will. The Bible teaches that God is sovereign over all things (Proverbs 16:33; Matthew 10:29; Romans 11:36; Ephesians 1:11), even human decisions (Proverbs 20:24; Proverbs 21:1). Although God does not stir men to sin «Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: », (James 1:13), He is still working everything, from individuals to nations, to the end that He has willed (Isaiah 46:10-11). God’s purposes

Do not depend on humans (Acts 17:24-26). Nor does God discover or learn (1 John 3:20; Job 34:21-22; Psalm 50:11; Proverbs 15:3). All things are decreed by God’s infinitely wise counsel (Romans 11:33-36).

That being said, it should be noted that Molinism would agree with everything said in the above paragraph. It is not at this level where Calvinists and Molinists disagree. Where Calvinism, Arminianism, and Molinism disagree most is in interpreting doctrines such as total depravity and limited atonement, in light of these other ideas.