Help with Middle Knowledge/Molinism

sastark · #1 (**permalink**) 10-08-2007, 01:59 PM

I am having some trouble grasping the concept of God's middle knowledge. I was hoping some of the PBers could help.

Here's what I understand, so far:
According to Molina (and other modern Molinists, such as W. L. Craig), there are three logical moments in the life of God:

Moment 1: God's natural knowledge of everything that could be
Moment 2: God's middle knowledge of everything that would be
DIVINE DECREE
Moment 3: God's free knowledge of everything that will happen in the actual world.

(these three moments are taken from Middle Knowledge: A Reformed Critique by Travis J. Campbell)

I think the first thing I am having trouble with is a definition of God's "free knowledge". What is meant by "free knowledge"? Is it the same as what is described in WCF 3.1: "nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established"?

Or does the Molinist view equate God's middle knowledge with "contingency of second causes"?

Also, doesn't the Molinist view ultimately make God's knowledge dependent upon the creature (God saw how a certain person would act in a certain situation and so ordered creation so that those specific events leading to that situation would actually occur)? And therefore, God is not self-sufficient?

In my class tonight, we are going to have a guest speaker who is a professor at Biola and also a Molinist. That's why I'm trying to better understand the position. Any help anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

cih1355 · #2 (**permalink**) 10-09-2007, 12:02 AM

According to Bruce Ware's book, God's Greater Glory, on page 110 says that God's free knowledge is His knowledge of what will happen in the future. According to Molinism, God's middle knowledge is His knowledge of what would happen if circumstances were different. Moreover, the Molinist view says "that there is no necessary connection between knowledge of each state of affairs and knowledge of what the agent would in fact choose in each different setting, God could not know the agent's choice by knowing the circumstances. " (page 113 of the above book)

BrianLanier · #3 (**permalink**) 10-09-2007, 01:29 AM

Hi Seth,

I don't have time to post anything of substance to help you out right now, but I can email (in PDF) you some of the articles on Molinism that I have. They include:

1) "Middle Knowledge and Classical Christian Thought". by David Basinger
2) An Objection to Middle Knowledge". by Robert Merrihew Adams
3) Our Idea of God. (Selection from Ch. 5 on God's Knowledge). by Thomas V. Morris
4) "On Divine Middle Knowledge" by Alfred J. Freddoso (This is a foundational essay on Molinism)
5) "Recent Work on Divine Foreknowledge and Free Will" by Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski in The Oxford Handbook of Free Will
5) "Providence--Risky or Risk-Free?" by Paul Helm (doesn't deal with Molinism by name, but I think it involes some of the same issues.)

Hope your class went well.

Brian

There are many other philosophical articles dealing with this topic in general and I can also email you some of those if you would like.

Just send me a PM with your email and I will get them to you tomorrow night.

BrianLanier · #4 (**permalink**) 10-09-2007, 01:37 AM

Oh yeah and . . .

6) "Scentia Media and Molinism" by John Mourant in The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. ed. Paul Edwards

Jim Johnston · #5 (**permalink**) 10-09-2007, 01:45 AM

Triablogue: "No Other Name": A Muddle Knowledge Perspective on the Exclusivity of Salvation Through Christ

Triablogue: "Middle Knowledge, Truth-Makers, and the 'Grounding Objection'"

Triablogue: <i>Providence & Prayer</i>

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society: COMPATIBILITY OF CALVINISM AND MIDDLE KNOWLEDGE, THE

Helm's Deep: Three Responses