Grounds to Object to the Grounding Objection

Perhaps the most common objection to Molinism is the so called Grounding Objection. Molinism, you may recall, asserts that God’s knowledge of the counterfactuals of creaturely freedom (CCFs) is explanatory prior to God’s creative decree. A CCF is a counterfactual that has the form: ‘If person P were in circumstances C, P would freely execute … Continue reading Grounds to Object to the Grounding Objection

A Molinist’s Guide Toward ‘Truthmaking’

Abstract: The outgrowth of the truthmaker theory is due in part to the realist conception of truth that has been endorsed more prominently in recent years. Supplementing this realism is the notion of truthmaking—that truth depends upon the world. As a ‘cheater-catching’ business, the truthmaking enterprise has been celebrated to exclude ontologically groundless metaphysical systems. Some … Continue reading A Molinist’s Guide Toward ‘Truthmaking’

A Response to the Grounding Objection: Adams, Zambrano, and Cowen—the Contemporary Debate on Molinism

Abstract: The grounding objection (GO) looms large as the principal objection against Molinism. Among the two main types of GOs lie the truthmaker-style GO that seeks to repudiate the Molinist claim of the truths of counterfactuals of creaturely freedom (CCF) by virtue of the lack of metaphysical groundings of those CCFs. As will be demonstrated … Continue reading A Response to the Grounding Objection: Adams, Zambrano, and Cowen—the Contemporary Debate on Molinism

Is God’s Knowledge Like a Box of Chocolates?

Question: Dear Tim, I just finished reading your “Dangerous Grounds” article and I could use a little clarification. Can you please further explain why it is that if God does not possess knowledge of creaturely freedom logically prior to his creative decree, then the only two options we are left with are open theism or “exhaustive … Continue reading Is God’s Knowledge Like a Box of Chocolates?

Dangerous Grounds: The Grounding Objection vs Divine Determinism

One of the most common protests against Molinism today is a purely philosophical argument known as the “Grounding Objection.” This complaint is based on a controversial version of the correspondence theory of truth known as the theory of truth-makers. Accordingly, in order for a statement to be true, then there needs to be something else in … Continue reading Dangerous Grounds: The Grounding Objection vs Divine Determinism

The Grounding Objection Against The Maximally Great God

Obviously, atheists object to God’s existence, but surprisingly, many Christians (at least inadvertently) reject the existence of a maximally great being as well! This objection is commonly advanced by specific Christians who are committed to deterministic assumptions and oppose what has been referred to as “the single most fruitful theological concept” ever conceived — Molinism! This … Continue reading The Grounding Objection Against The Maximally Great God