Molinism: The Bridge Between Calvinism & Arminianism

[Humble Disciple]

According to William Lane Craig, when he visited Calvin College, all of the theologians said they were actually Molinists, not Calvinists:

When I gave the Stob lectures at Calvin College and Seminary, I was shocked when the theologians at the seminary told me that they were all Molinists! I increasingly encounter people who are moving in the Molinist direction (both from the Calvinistic end and the open theist end of the spectrum!)
Molinism vs. Calvinism | Reasonable Faith

It seems to that Molinism is the next logical step after Calvinism, that once you've accepted the Bible's passages on God's sovereignty, Molinism offers a way to reconcile them with other Biblical passages on human responsibility.

Imagine that Laura is a doctor. Laura chose to become a doctor because her mother developed Lou Gehrig’s disease, and she had to learn how to care for her mother. That sparked Laura’s passion for medicine.

But what if Laura’s mother had never developed the disease? Would Laura still have become a doctor?

And is that something God could know? That is, does God know what people would have (not just could have) chosen if put in different circumstances?

Theologians call that kind of knowledge “middle knowledge.”

In between knowledge of everything that could happen and everything that willhappen is everything that would have happened.

Does the Bible reveal whether or not God has middle knowledge?

Consider this episode from the life of David.

The Philistines were attacking the city of Keilah. David asked the Lord if he shouldfight them. God said yes (1 Sam 23:2), so David attacked the Philistines, thereby saving the city. However, David heard that King Saul was planning to come toKeilah to kill him. How would the citizens of Keilah react? Would they defend him, or deliver David into Saul’s hands? David prayed to God for an answer (and notice that David assumes God knows the future):

“O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.”
And the Lord said, “He will come down.”
Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?”
And the Lord said, “They will deliver you.”
So David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so he halted the expedition (1 Sam 23:10-13).

Do you see what happened here?

God revealed what would have happened if David had stayed in Keilah, i.e., Saul would have come, and the men of Keilah would have delivered David into Saul’s hands. Given that information, David left Keilah. Consequently, Saul “halted the expedition” and David was not delivered into Saul’s hands.

That’s one example of God’s middle knowledge.

Here’s another—

Jesus had ministered in the cities of Chorazin and Bethsaida with limited results, soHe warned them:

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable forTyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you” (Matt 11:21-24).

Jesus knew what Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom would have done had they seen His miracles, i.e., they would have repented.

That’s another example of middle knowledge.

Interestingly, God’s judgment of those cities will take into account what they would have done. Since they would have repented had they been given the same miraculous evidence, “it shall be more tolerable” for Sodom than for Capernaum.

What do we call a God who knows everything that would have happened in the world?

Omniscient.
God Is Omniscient: God’s Middle Knowledge – Grace Evangelical Society

According to Molinism, God created our world, based on His middle knowledge, as the world where the most people possible would be saved, since God knew ahead of time who would reject the Gospel in every possible world.

As a Molinist, one can agree with Arminians that God's enabling grace to believe the Gospel is provided to all people equally (John 12:32, John 15:26, John 16:8-11, etc.), and with Calvinists that, once you are saved, your salvation is eternally secure (John 5:24, John 10:27-29, etc.)

Ecclesiastes 7:18
It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes.

1 Corinthians 8:2-3
Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.

 

[Iconoclast]

yeah....what is next, Pelaganism?

 

[Humble Disciple]

I accomplished everything I intended to accomplish in removing the blinders of anti-Calvinists, and now I'm doing the same for the other side, to the glory of God alone. Are we not all brothers and sisters in Christ?

 

[Rob_BW]

So the philosopher Pangloss was right, we're living in the best of all possible worlds?

 

[Humble Disciple]

So the philosopher Pangloss was right, we're living in the best of all possible worlds?

That's the idea of it if, as the scriptures suggest, God has middle knowledge of all possible scenarios.

 

[Humble Disciple]

I posted this to the forum several weeks ago:

I have asked God to not make me a Calvinist if he doesn't want me to be a Calvinist. In the very least, I believe that God wants me to dispel myths about Calvinism, so that people will be relieved of their prejudice against Calvinists.

Since I am a Calvinist who believes in God’s irresistible grace, I accept that God will make me a provisionist, Arminian, or Molinist if He so chooses, according to His own glory and purposes. (Psalm 115:3, Psalm 135:6)

At the end of the day, your love for God is more important than the rightness of your theology:

1 Corinthians 8:2-3
Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.

If you are a Calvinist who believes in irresistible grace, then you must accept that God led me, through the reading of scripture, to ultimately reject the Calvinist understanding of unconditional election.

 

[Humble Disciple]

Why do modern-day Calvinists insist on breaking the the ninth commandment for any preacher or theologian who disagrees with their theology, by falsely accusing them of Pelagianism?

 

[Humble Disciple]