{"id":357,"date":"2017-04-25T12:19:46","date_gmt":"2017-04-25T12:19:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/headofleslie.com\/blog\/?p=357"},"modified":"2017-04-25T12:19:46","modified_gmt":"2017-04-25T12:19:46","slug":"of-madeleine-and-molinism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/headofleslie.com\/blog\/of-madeleine-and-molinism\/","title":{"rendered":"Of Madeleine and Molinism"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Have you ever heard of Molinism? It’s the name given to a theological view which attempts to reconcile God’s sovereignty with man’s free will. The basic idea is that God has knowledge not just of what you will do, but also what you would do if circumstances were different (also known as “middle knowledge”). On this view, God knows all the possible choices you could make, and so has ordered the world based upon that knowledge to work out his will. We still freely make those choices, but God uses his foreknowledge of those choices to do his work through them.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I was caused to think about this some today after an incident related to Madeleine. Cambria had swimming tonight, and just as she and Madeleine were heading home from the playground so Cambria could go, I heard a noise and then Cambria say “oh my goodness, Madeleine, are you okay?” through our open veranda windows. I looked out and saw a taxi at the corner next to our building, and saw Cambria, but I couldn’t see Madeleine. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Of course, you could imagine my horror! I rushed outside to where Madeleine was. Thankfully, she was okay – frightened certainly, and a little hurt on her side, but basically okay. Apparently she was coming down the hill on her bike, and despite multiple warnings from me, did not pay close enough attention at the corner. A taxi came around and stopped in time, but she couldn’t stop and so ran into it and got halfway pushed off her bike. Again, I’m incredibly thankful that she is okay. It could have been much worse, but by God’s grace, she was safe, as was the taxi driver, and after a brief discussion with police we were all on our way.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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So back to my point about Molinism.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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There’s really so much we don’t know about the future. I’ve often said that, even if I could travel back in time, I never would, because even the very act of doing so could lead to devastating consequences for the present. There’s just no way we time-bound, fallible human beings could judge what even the smallest change to the past could lead to. The presence of a new person, the opening of a door at a different time, the passing smile of someone who wasn’t there before … all of these could lead unintentionally to untold horrors! Life is a chain of events, and while certain events may seem insignificant, they are just as connected to the big events as anything else.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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It made me sad to see Madeleine so scared, and of course frightened me to think of what could have happened. And I still worry a bit that, despite some reassurances, the cab driver or his company may call and demand payment for the small smudge Madeleine’s bike left on the vehicle. That’s not a cost my family needs as we prepare to move back to America.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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But the reality is, this event could have saved her life. It may be the catalyst she needs to take safety more seriously. Perhaps she will now be more careful about being on the road, and remember it for many years to come. In fact, it may save not only her life, but the life of another as well. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Obviously, I am not in the position of God. I do not possess middle knowledge, or very much knowledge of any sort, in fact. But I trust that God has all the knowledge that is possible to possess, and has all the knowledge he needs to providentially set up the world to work out his good will. And that is the truly great thing – I know that his will is good. So even when I am troubled by it, even when I don’t like it, even when it’s scary or even hurts, I know I can trust him.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The job for me is not to understand every link in the chain. That’s impossible for me. My job is to trust in the one who holds it all in place. And thankfully, in Jesus Christ, I know the chain leads somewhere beautiful.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Have you ever heard of Molinism? It’s the name given to a theological view which attempts to reconcile God’s sovereignty with man’s free will. The…<\/p>\n

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