Molinism

So suppose God's got to a certain point in time and he hasn't yet created.

and Molinism is true, maybe he could say, well, I know all the counterfactuals of divine freedom now, and I know every possible sort of timeline from where I've got to into the future now.

And so I know I'll never freely choose to create because I've sort of locked in the decision not to create, having got this far without creating.

I'm never going to create.

And so the probability of my creating in the future is zero.

And I've not got to a question yet.

So actually on this, on the sort of God who can somehow lock in a decision not to create, which I think makes sense on Molinism.

then I'm not really sure because I don't really fully understand all the Molinist moves either.

I mean, there's differences between Dominicans and Franciscans and all the rest of that stuff within Roman Catholicism.

Remember, Molinism developed within Roman Catholicism as a response to the Reformation.

The issue of God's declared will, that is, his in the law, he says, this is my will for how human beings are to exist.

Okay.

I just don't think their perspectives on an autonomous human will.

That's why flowers can jump into a conversation with an open theist or with a Molinist.

Open theism and Molinism are about as far apart as you can get.

They're joined by their detestation of Calvinism.

And also, I've written a bunch of stuff on this.

And then in a minute, I'm going to talk about what Molinism is, and I'll link to William Lane Craig spelling that out.

Okay.

So, and partly why I'm saying that is what I'm going to give you guys here is not a standard thing.

And again, I don't say that sarcastically or disparagingly, to try to make his position known.

Likewise, here, I'm going to do the same.

Now, what I'm going to end up doing here is a variant of what is known as Molinism by this, by going back to Molina and Scholastic.

So, The thing is, this was an independent discovery on my part.

There remained the question of right.

The Thomas were disposed to hold Arnauld absolved if he should acknowledge in the soul of the just the presence of a sufficient as distinct from an effacent grace, but the Molinist endeavored to stop the discussion.

The Jansenists and the friends of Port Royal had little expectation of securing the acquittal of Arnauld by the Sorbonne, and they began to think of carrying the matter before another tribunal, that of the public.

Arnauld was told that he must not suffer himself to be condemned like a child without making the public acquainted with the merits of the case.

In order to obtain a better reception with him, I pretended to be strongly on his side, and I said to him, "Was it possible that the Sorbonne should have introduced into the Church this error, that all the just have always the power to keep the commandments?" "What do you say?" replied my doctor.

"Do you call that an error which is an opinion so Catholic and which is opposed only by Lutherans and Calvinists?" "Well then," I said, "is it not your opinion?" "No," he said.

"We anathemize it as heretical and impious." Surprised at this reply, I knew well that I had gone too far in playing the Janacent, as before I had been too much Molinist.

But not being able to assure myself of the meaning of his reply, I entreated him to tell me in confidence if he held that the just had always a real power to keep the commandments.

I mean, Leighton Flowers bops around with Warren McGrew and with Molinus.

And Molinism and open theism are the exact polar opposites of each other.

But he can pop around with everybody.

You know why he does that? Because it all denies Calvinism.

He doesn't go with sort of Calvin's kind of ideas of pre-predestination.

Um, he, he places himself in between, on the one side, Calvinists, uh, where there's no sense of like kind of human choice at all, and on the other side, what he calls Molinists, which are kind of kinda like the Jesuits, um, where basically it's all about human choice.

So f- for him, he, he sets up this opposition that, that Calvin, um, uh, where God determines everything and there's no human participation in salvation whatsoever.

On the other side, he argues the Molinists, the Jesuits, it's all about human response.

You know, grace is given to every person, but the use of that grace is entirely dependent on our will, and some choose to do that and some don't.

Uh, and he, he pai- he paints himself as a classic, uh, Augustinian and, um, a- and by that he says that in our unfallen state, um, you know, God gave us the, the grace to be a- He gave us grace c- that could be acted upon by each person, but in our fallen state, we're unable to respond to God.

Yeah, he, Pascal often thinks in threes.

He often think he kind of polarizes two things and then says, you know, gets to the middle.

There remained the question of right.

The Thomas were disposed to hold Arnauld absolved if he should acknowledge in the soul of the just the presence of a sufficient as distinct from an effacent grace, but the Molinist endeavored to stop the discussion.

The Jansenists and the friends of Port Royal had little expectation of securing the acquittal of Arnauld by the Sorbonne, and they began to think of carrying the matter before another tribunal, that of the public.

Arnauld was told that he must not suffer himself to be condemned like a child without making the public acquainted with the merits of the case.

Do you call that an error which is an opinion so Catholic and which is opposed only by Lutherans and Calvinists? Well then, I said, is it not your opinion? No, he said.

We anathematize it as heretical and impious.

Surprised at this reply, I knew well that I had gone too far in playing the Jansenist, as before I had been too much Molinist.

But not being able to assure myself of the meaning of his reply, I entreated him to tell me in confidence if he held that the just had always a real power to keep the commandments.

It is for the same reason that a woman's affection would not be so much wounded, however her pride might, by her husband's intriguing with a servant wench, or other woman of a condition very much her inferior, as by his intriguing with a woman of a condition near about the level of her own.

it is indeed a general observation that in all cases of rivalry the jealousy is the greater the nearer in all respects the condition of the rival is to your own It is on the same principle that in matters of religion Jansenists and Molinists are often apt to be more averse to one another than either are to Protestants, Methodists and regular Church of England men than either are to Presbyterians, Protestants and Catholics than either are to Jews, and in general schismatics in any church than either are to heretics or persons of a different religion.

This, at least, would seem likely to have been the case, in times in which the propensity was not held in the abhorrence in which it is held at present, and where, consequently, the wife would not have, as at present, to add to her other motives of concern, the infamy with which, under the present system, it is one effect of such behaviour to cast upon any man who is guilty of it.

End of Part 3