โ Scribed by Thomas P. Flint
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Thomas P. Flint develops and defends the idea of divine providence sketched by Luis de Molina, the sixteenth-century Jesuit theologian. The Molinist account of divine providence reconciles two claims long thought to be incompatible: that God is the all-knowing governor of the universe and that individual freedom can prevail only in a universe free of absolute determinism. The Molinist concept of middle knowledge holds that God knows, though he has no control over, truths about how any individual would freely choose to act in any situation, even if the person never encounters that situation. Given such knowledge, God can be truly providential while leaving his creatures genuinely free.
Divine Providence is by far the most detailed and extensive presentation of the Molinist view ever written.Middle knowledge is hotly debated in philosophical theology, and the controversy spills over into metaphysics and moral philosophy as well. Flint ably defends the concept against its most influential contemporary critics, and shows its importance to Christian practice. With particular originality and sophistication, he applies Molinism to such aspects of providence as prayer, prophecy, and the notion of papal infallibility, teasing out the full range of implications for traditional Christianity.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART l. AN EXPLICATION OF THE MOLINIST ACCOUNT
1. The Twin Bases of Molinism: Providence and Freedom
2. The Molinist Account of Providence
PART II. A DEFENSE OF THE MOLINIST ACCOUNT
3. Alternative Accounts of Providence
4. Five Thomistic Objections to Molinism
5. The "Grounding" Objection to Middle Knowledge
6. Hasker's Attack on Middle Knowledge
7. Adams and Vicious Circle Arguments
PART III. SOME APPLICATIONS OF THE MOLINIST ACCOUNT
8. Papal lnfallibility
9. Prophecy
10. Unanswered Prayers
11. Praying for Things to Have Happened
Conclusion
Index
๐ SIMILAR VOLUMES
Divine Providence is by far the most detailed and extensive presentation of the Molinist view ever written.
Thomas P. Flint develops and defends the idea of divine providence sketched by Luis de Molina, the sixteenth-century Jesuit theologian. The Molinist account of divine providence reconciles two claims long thought to be incompatible: that God is the all-knowing governor of the universe and that indiv
<p>How exactly could God achieve infallible foreknowledge of every future event, including the free actions of human persons? How could God exercise careful providence over these same events? Byerly offers a novel response to these important questions by contending that God exercises providence and
How exactly could God achieve infallible foreknowledge of every future event, including the free actions of human persons? How could God exercise careful providence over these same events? Byerly offers a novel response to these important questions by contending that God exercises providence and ach
