Question: If God is good and sovereign and all powerful and knows all things, how do we reconcile this with man's free will? In other words, if God knows all, we really don't have a choice do we, since His knowledge has already mapped out our future for us?
Answer: Let me begin with a proposition advanced by a priest named Luis de Molina, a 16th century Jesuit theologian. Molinism is a proposed reconciliation of the problems introduced in the tension between human freedom and divine sovereignty. Molinism seeks to retain both a true libertarian freedom without sacrificing divine providence or sovereignty by introducing the idea of “middle knowledge.”
In this proposal God knows not only all actual situations, but all possible situations (middle knowledge). These possible situations are known as “possible worlds.” We live in an actual world, chosen out of countless other possibilities as the best fit for how things turned out because of our libertarian choices. God chose the best possible world that allowed for libertarian freedom where people freely choose that which God with perfect predictive foreknowledge ordained to occur. Therefore, libertarian freedom and sovereignty are reconciled. Those who object to Molinism do so on the basis that middle knowledge has no metaphysical grounding and because such a philosophical solution is far too extensive. Also, many would argue that the introduction of libertarian freedom is an impossibility since libertarian freedom lacks the grounds for the choices it proposes to preserve. Alvin Plantinga and William Lane Craig are well-known Molistists today.
In other words, since God knows all possibilities, He created a world to match those possibilities to a [our] world of zillions of free choices. It other words, it might be said that “God created a one-size fits all world to match any and all of our libertarian choices.”
I prefer however to allow for God’s knowledge of all possibilities to work in tandem with His sovereign omnipotence to thwart the consequences of certain libertarian choices. This, I feel allows for a better understanding of how we perceive reality, and it also allows for God to have the final say.
Another way to wrap your mind around the concept is to say that God has perfect predictive powers. The reality, biblically speaking, is that although God does know our choices before we make them, He has allowed for us to change our mind, and even works to perfect His will in us as we grow in Him.
Is Molinism biblical?
Molinists point to various texts to establish that God has “middle knowledge.” For example, they point to Matthew 11:21-24 where Jesus denounces Chorazin and Bethsaida. Jesus tells 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.”
Molinists claim that this verse, and others like it, prove that God has knowledge of what would happen given a different set of circumstances. As such, they insist that the doctrine of middle knowledge is true.
Trust this helps.
In other words, since God knows all possibilities, He created a world to match those possibilities to a [our] world of zillions of free choices. It other words, it might be said that “God created a one-size fits all world to match any and all of our libertarian choices.”
I prefer however to allow for God’s knowledge of all possibilities to work in tandem with His sovereign omnipotence to thwart the consequences of certain libertarian choices. This, I feel allows for a better understanding of how we perceive reality, and it also allows for God to have the final say.
Another way to wrap your mind around the concept is to say that God has perfect predictive powers. The reality, biblically speaking, is that although God does know our choices before we make them, He has allowed for us to change our mind, and even works to perfect His will in us as we grow in Him.
Is Molinism biblical?
Molinists point to various texts to establish that God has “middle knowledge.” For example, they point to Matthew 11:21-24 where Jesus denounces Chorazin and Bethsaida. Jesus tells 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.”
Molinists claim that this verse, and others like it, prove that God has knowledge of what would happen given a different set of circumstances. As such, they insist that the doctrine of middle knowledge is true.
Trust this helps.
JimR_/
P.S. You can also check out CARM for a slightly different answer which leans more towards the Calvinistic view.
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