Whereas Thomism derives the infallible success of efficacious grace from the very nature of this grace, and assumes consequently the grace to be efficacious intrinsically (gratia efficax ab intrinseco), Molinism ascribes the efficacy of grace to the free co-operation of the will and consequently admits a grace which is merely extrinsically efficacious (gratia efficax ab extrinseco). We don’t feel the need to resolve every deep issue in theology, like Protestants often do, with their interminable internal controversies. View all posts by Jimmy Akin. It appears that the Molinist view doesn't work since Thomism can preserve freedom and perfect sovereignty (not even mentioning the other problems with Molinism); the Thomist view seems inadequate insofar as it is not clear what God's antecedent will is, this being a willing apart from God's efficacious, absolute, and simple will. What are the others? – Most Informative Blog Explain Thomist vs Molinist predestination. This is basically how Molinism is. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. Please check your inbox to confirm your subscription. But it denies that the damned are predestined to hell (“double predestination”). For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Ed Peters, What is the essential belief that Catholics must hold? Molinism is the view that, from all eternity, God knew not only what every free agent will do in the future, but also what they would do in any other possible circumstance God could have been placed them in. Yes, I want the Patheos Catholic Newsletter as well, Identity Politics vs. Transactional Politics. Catholic Predestination, Molinism, & Thomism in a Nutshell. For example, many of the key terms connected with salvation–"redemption," "justification," "sanctification," and even "salvation" itself–occur in Scripture with more than one meaning. That’s one of the big questions in the larger discussion. So it’s not really the sort of topic on which any of us can say much without extensive research. – Best Apologetics Blog These “moments” of knowledge are not to be thought ofas chronological; rather they are to be understood as “logical.” In other words,one moment does not come before another moment in time, rather one moment islogically prior to the other moments. I am a new convert to the RCC: Click Here to read as a PDF. Most Dominicans I know fall squarely into the “Molinist” camp, and use St. Thomas’ teachings to explain and defend that position. The fact that the alphabet runs from A to Z is both a natural occurance (in that one logically follows the next), but is also a miraculous event, in that God ordained (or even pre-ordained) it so. The Church teaches that the elect saved are predestined (and this is true in both Thomism and Molinism). If the former were semi-Pelagian at all, the Church would have condemned it along with the ancient heresy. The key points on which the two groups diverge (the Molinist acceptance of middle knowledge, the Banezian acceptance of physical premotion) involve very complicated philosophical theses about knowledge and causation. There is a tendency among many Calvinist authors to treat biblical language as if it is a lot less ambiguous than is really the case. Question: "What is Molinism and is it biblical?" Apologetics. The Molinist differentiates between threedifferent moments of knowledge which ar… My curiosity is no doubt related to my ignorance of what distinguishes Thomism from Molinism, etc. Therefore, only God has an essence identical to His existence. Also, it is often assumed that certain terms are synonyms, when in fact they may not be. So, ultimately, the controversy between the Thomists and the Molinists is a controversy about the interpretation of St. Augustine and St. Thomas. At the same time, one could say that the future is predestined by causes originating outside of nature but nevertheless determining the result of each observation. At some point I may have the leisure, or the personal motivation, to do a systematic review of this area, but thus far I have not. I am particularly suspicious of strategies that attempt to handle biblical language as if it did not contain a large amount of ambiguity. By and large, I consider that the practical, day-to-day Christian life and how to be a faithful Catholic are far more important in the scheme of things than highly abstract, intensely philosophical discussion of some of the greatest mysteries of the faith. From what you put on your blog I think you are a bit of both, I admit I have read very little of Molina, but you inform without prejudice Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. William Most in his book “New Answers to Old Questions.” You can find the complete text here: http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/most/getwork.cfm?worknum=214. The Dominican Order which espoused strict Thomism criticized that novel doctrine and found fault with the scientia media , which they think implies passivity, which is repugnant to Pure Act. More generally speaking, all beings of the same genus have the same essence, and so long as they exist, only differ by accidents and substantial form. I believe that predestination exists, for Scripture says that it does. Scripture and Tradition allow us to establish certain points, such as the absolute necessity of grace for anyone to be saved, but they may not allow us to fully exhaust the mystery that we are confronted with here, just as they allow us to establish certain points regarding the nature of God without exhausting the mystery that he is. We all know you are a tried and true Deppist. God doesn’t predestine that, as Calvinism (and Martin Luther) teach. But we do make that choice, and this is presupposed in the Bible (and Catholic theology), along with the absolute necessity of grace and predestination of the elect. If anything, I think St. Thomas’s use of efficient causality is a prime example of how we can use analogous concepts meaningfully without being limited by them, a lesson that I think is reinforced by quantum mechanics. I’m not entirely sure that we have been given the data needed to address every issue relating to this subject. Thank you! schools of thought, and I wanted to know where you It seems to me that the Catholic could hold hypothetically the truth of QM, so long as he admits that God may suspend the rules of nature to reveal truth through miracles. Molinism is a view of God’s providence named after its popularizer, the 16th century Jesuit theologian Luis de Molina. "The most famous distinctive in Molinism is its affirmation that God has middleknowledge (scienta media). Molinism is a system of thought that seeks to reconcile the sovereignty of God and the free will of man. Could a knowledgable person please describe, for a layman, the difference between the Molinist and Thomist views of predestination? Aristotelianism is also a scientific theory which is why both the Orthodox and Lutherans have qualms about using Aristotelian language for the conversion of the elements in the Eucharist. In other words, I try to be transparent to the Church: If the Church allows a variety of opinion on a particular point, I tend to leave matters as they are. http://www.catholicblogawards.com/index.php It teaches (just like Augustine and over against Calvinism) that we have a free will, too. Jimmy: Given the practical orientation of my work–which involves defending the liberty of opinion that Catholics have rather than trying to prove one particular school of thought correct Given the practical orientation of my work–which involves defending the liberty of opinion that Catholics have rather than trying to prove one particular school of thought correct–I have not had the occasion to do that research. I can’t resist asking if anyone has studied whether the philosophical implications of quantum mechanics (QM) would tend to push someone toward Thomism, Molinism, or another pole in the debate. Photo credit: Helix Nebula: 700 light-years away from earth. Inocencio This is not often appreciated in some circles. The theological claims of the Protestant Reformers, especially the unbending views of John Calvin, made such … theAuthor June 9, 2007, 1:40am #1. It’s also worth remembering that one standard Molinist contention — from the very beginning — is that Thomas Aquinas’s view of predestination leads to Molinism and not to Thomism, which would be perhaps better called Banezianism, after Domingo Banez, one of the great commentators on Aquinas; and that the dispute between the two groups sometimes had as much to do with the … I understand that this is a It was QM fitting into a metaphysical framework, not vice versa, that helped my position along. Thomas Aquinas posited that God had natural knowledge—knowledge of the potentials of the world (the way things operate)—and free knowledge—knowledge of what will come (otherwise known as simple foreknowledge. Calvinism vs Open Theism vs Molinism vs Arminianism Calvinism vs. Arminianism vs. Open Theism vs. Molinism First off, let me begin by asking you to comment and let everyone know what your current belief system is regarding God's predestination, foreknowledge, and foreordination. I think it would be a bit misleading to call this a “philosophy of quantum mechanics.” Quantum mechanics provided me an example that it is possible to provide meaningful explanations of forms of “causation” that don’t fit into deterministic models, which also convinced me that it was possible to speak meaningfully about God through analogy, even though what we mean in both cases is a bit mysterious (witness Einstein’s frustration: “God does not play dice with the universe.”). Originally, coming from conservative Presbyterianism, I had a strong predisposition towards Thomism. Based on your post above, I think that you would really enjoy a book called “Modern Physics and Ancient Faith” by Stephen Barr. Molinism holds that God’s knowledge consists ofthreelogical moments. Hi friends! Having come from a background in physics (bachelor’s and master’s degrees), I always found the rigorous, deterministic model of God’s causation inadequate anyway, so I was quite amenable to finding a philosophical account that was not so limited (and I believe that St. Thomas provides one). Molinism and Thomism and control over others. Catholics break down into two camps on the predestination issue: Thomism and Molinism. Both choices are fully permissible. Is this close? I’d also like to recommend C.S. Catholics are content to live with mystery and paradox. They are not the only two, however. Both systems hold similarities with some stark differences. They can’t wrap their minds around those things as grace-caused and grace-soaked, and so they (in their own “official” confessions) accuse us of Pelagianism too. Speaking autobiographically, I can only say that it left me dissatisfied with either and persuaded by the amicable criticism of Barry Miller (A Most Unlikely God, The Fullness of Being) and Gregory Rocca (Speaking the Incomprehensible God), who appear to have taken the position that I consider most faithful to St. Thomas’s own position. Jimmy Molinism says that God provides the Grace and the person either says yes or no. God bless. God bless! Philosophy. Catholics believe that prayers and rosaries, prompted by Our Lady of Fatima, were the cause of the downfall of communism in Russia, whereas historians, politicians, and economists will point to the inevitability of economic collapse brought about by Stalinist policies in communist Russia. The Catholic teaching is neither Pelagian (basically, “salvation by works”) nor semi-Pelagian (saved partially by our own self-generated works), though we are constantly falsely accused of this by Calvinists and even in the Lutheran confessions. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999) pp. But I digress… Check out Miracles. For those who aren’t aware, Thomism and Molinism are the two best-known schools of Catholic thought regarding the subjects of predestination, grace, and free will. But it has not. If that comforts you. Molinism vs Calvinism – Accepting a solution or a mystery. Those usually generate far more heat than light. Thomistic vs. Molinist Predestination Part I This post comes out of a very large and high-quality discussion on predestination on Facebook. Molinism doesn’t present any insuperable obstacle to this question. But let’s keep in mind what the lesson is here: our real conceptual limitations do not translate into conceptual limitations on reality. It isn’t that it is not true, but that they don’t want to be locked into Aristotle. …or other permitted Catholic schools.” However, many people are not completely satisfied with either pole, esp. I’ve heard this from modern Dominicans as well; Molinists are considered “Thomistic” in the broader sense of the term, as opposed to the narrow use of “Thomist” refering to a specific school of Thomistic thinkers of the day. The question in my mind is how predestination works. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live." Basically, many Calvinists (with their “either/or” mentality) collapse any position that holds to free will and predestination in paradox, as both true (like the Bible does), as Pelagian. He was great. But that doesn’t substitute for actual metaphysics, and to think that QM is going to do metaphysical work that it can’t possibly do is just the sort of materialism that plagues modern society. I teach twelfth grade Moral Theology and our class recently spun out of control with a Thomist/Molinist debate on the issue of predestination and efficiency of grace. Molinism is also based on the idea of middle knowledge. Sometimes Thomists accuse Molinists of being semi-Pelagian, and Molinists accuse Thomists of being Calvinists in “predestination soteriology,” but this is untrue as well, and the Church has stated that neither side can anathematize the other. Original image was taken by ESO’s VISTA Telescope (7-1-13). Other sorts of discussion can be really interesting, but can leave a person confused where the boundaries are. The Christmas Cookie and the Christmas Star. Molinism has been controversial and criticized since its inception in Molina's concordia. “It’s also worth remembering that one standard Molinist contention — from the very beginning — is that Thomas Aquinas’s view of predestination leads to Molinism and not to Thomism, which would be perhaps better called Banezianism, after Domingo Banez, one of the great commentators on Aquinas.” I love how the ESV reads in Romans 5:15-18:. I recently read this from Romanus Cessario’s A Short History of Thomism. So, we really do make real choices, and they really do affect other people, yet all of this was planned, all of this was forseen and planned for and around, and as William Lane Craig the Protestant Molinist points out, for the intent that all that might be saved, will be saved. In 1594 the dispute between the Thomists and the Molinists reached a fever heat. Catholics break down into two camps on the predestination issue: Thomism and Molinism. 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