William Lane Craig The Middle-Knowledge View

2009 ◽  
pp. 347-362
Keyword(s):  
William Lane Craig ◽  
Middle Knowledge

Exclusivism, eternal damnation, and the problem of evil: a critique of Craig's Molinist soteriological theodicy

2003 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 407-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID B. MYERS
Keyword(s):  
Problem Of Evil ◽  
Orthodox Christianity ◽  
William Lane Craig ◽  
Middle Knowledge ◽  
Counter Example ◽  
The Problem Of Evil ◽  
In Christ ◽  
Special Instance

According to orthodox Christianity, salvation depends on faith in Christ. If, however, God eternally punishes those who die ignorant of Christ, it appears that we have special instance of the problem of evil: the punishment of the religiously innocent. This is called the soteriological problem of evil. Using Molina's concept of middle knowledge, William Lane Craig develops a solution to this problem which he considers a theodicy. As developed by Craig, the Molinist theodicy rests on the problematic assumption that all informed persons who would freely reject Christ are culpable. Using an informed Muslim as a counter-example, I try to show that Craig's Molinist solution begs the question.

scholarly journals “MIDDLE KNOWLEDGE”: SOLUTION OR SEDUCTION?

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-46
Author(s):  
HENRI BLOCHER
Keyword(s):  
William Lane Craig ◽  
Middle Knowledge ◽  
The Status ◽  
And Function ◽  
Determinism And Indeterminism

In this article, Henri Blocher examines the status and function of “middle knowledge,” a proposed median between determinism and indeterminism, and one that satisfies our natural aspirations to freedom. The theses of Molina and Suarez in particular are carefully presented and evaluated, with reference to the thought of one of their recent capable advocates, William Lane Craig. The seduction of the “middle knowledge” thesis provides an opportunity for reflection and wisdom, and particularly for humility that bows the knee to the mystery of godliness.

Middle Knowledge and the Soteriological Problem of Evil

1991 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
David P. Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Problem Of Evil ◽  
The Other ◽  
Alvin Plantinga ◽  
Subjunctive Conditionals ◽  
Middle Knowledge ◽  
Divine Knowledge ◽  
Considerable Controversy

According to the thesis of divine ‘middle knowledge’, first propounded by the Jesuit theologian Luis de Molina in the sixteenth century, subjunctive conditionals stating how free agents would freely respond under counter-factual conditions (call such expressions ‘counterfactuals of freedom’) may be straightforwardly true, and thus serve as the objects of divine knowledge. This thesis has provoked considerable controversy, and the recent revival of interest in middle knowledge, initiated by Anthony Kenny, Robert Adams and Alvin Plantinga in the 1970s, has led to two ongoing debates. One is a theoretical debate over the very intelligibility of middle knowledge;1 the other is a practical debate over its philosophical and theological utility.2

Time and time again: two volumes by William Lane Craig William Lane Craig The Tensed Theory of Time: A Critical Examination. Synthese Library Volume 293. (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000). Pp. v+287. £78.00 (Hbk). ISBN 0792366344. William Lane Craig The Tenseless Theory of Time: A Critical Examination. Synthese Library Volume 294. (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000). Pp. v+256. £65.00 (Hbk). ISBN 0792366352.

2002 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 489-498
Author(s):  
PAUL HELM
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
William Lane Craig ◽  
Tenseless Theory ◽  
Tensed Theory

The two books make a notable contribution in drawing together many of the philosophical problems about time, and the associated literature. The expositions are also valuable for their interdisciplinary strengths, especially in the history and philosophy of science and (to a lesser extent) in theology, and for the clarity and thoroughness of Craig's approach. However, the two books do not present, as might at first appear, a side by side exposition of the respective strengths and weaknesses of the A-series and the B-series views of time. They are, rather, one interconnected defence of the A-series view. Some of the strengths and weaknesses of Craig's exposition and defence of the A-series view are noted.

Comparing the Meaningfulness of Finite and Infinite Lives: Can We Reap What We Sow if We Are Immortal?

2021 ◽  
Vol 90 ◽  
pp. 105-123
Author(s):  
Thaddeus Metz
Keyword(s):  
Natural World ◽  
The Other ◽  
Meaningful Life ◽  
The Past ◽  
William Lane Craig ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Important Argument ◽  
Moral Choices ◽  
The One

AbstractOn the rise over the past 20 years has been ‘moderate supernaturalism’, the view that while a meaningful life is possible in a world without God or a soul, a much greater meaning would be possible only in a world with them. William Lane Craig can be read as providing an important argument for a version of this view, according to which only with God and a soul could our lives have an eternal, as opposed to temporally limited, significance since we would then be held accountable for our decisions affecting others’ lives. I present two major objections to this position. On the one hand, I contend that if God existed and we had souls that lived forever, then, in fact, all our lives would turn out the same. On the other hand, I maintain that, if this objection is wrong, so that our moral choices would indeed make an ultimate difference and thereby confer an eternal significance on our lives (only) in a supernatural realm, then Craig could not capture the view, aptly held by moderate supernaturalists, that a meaningful life is possible in a purely natural world.

scholarly journals Prophecy, Foreknowledge, and Middle Knowledge

2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Corabi ◽  
Rebecca Germino ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle Knowledge
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