Declare Books Supposing The Only Wise God: The Compatibility of Divine Foreknowledge & Human Freedom
| Original Title: | The Only Wise God: The Compatibility of Divine Foreknowledge & Human |
| ISBN: | 1579103162 (ISBN13: 9781579103163) |
| Edition Language: | English |
William Lane Craig
Paperback | Pages: 160 pages Rating: 4.26 | 207 Users | 26 Reviews
Point Based On Books The Only Wise God: The Compatibility of Divine Foreknowledge & Human Freedom
| Title | : | The Only Wise God: The Compatibility of Divine Foreknowledge & Human Freedom |
| Author | : | William Lane Craig |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 160 pages |
| Published | : | January 13th 2000 by Wipf & Stock Publishers |
| Categories | : | Religion. Theology. Philosophy. Christian. Nonfiction |
Narrative During Books The Only Wise God: The Compatibility of Divine Foreknowledge & Human Freedom
5/5. What an excellent book. I should have read this years ago. This book is an accessible introductory study of middle knowledge (A.K.A Molinism) and the apparent theological and philosophical tensions it seeks to resolve. The aim of the book is to persuade the reader to hold fast with confidence to the truths of scripture: God’s omniscience (including foreknowledge) and human freedom. Craig suggests this can be achieved by accepting Molinism and rejecting both Open Theism (or Process Theology) and Theological Fatalism (or some may say simply Calvinism). The book deals directly with some of the most complex philosophical concepts and debates but remains accessible due to its clear concise writing style and structure and it’s reliance on simple illustrations and summaries. The book promotes what may be described as a Molinist view of divine omniscience and deals with both philosophical and theological objections robustly throughout. The greatest strengths of this book are it’s incredible conciseness and accessibility on such a complex and confusing topic. However, it’s greatest strength is also it’s only weakness. Where other philosophical positions are relied on in its arguments, they are largely identified. However, the following background commitments are not dealt with in detail, which I suppose is for the sake of brevity and accessibility: the nature of human freedom; the nature of time; the nature of reality. Libertarian free will is assumed from the outset but is never established. The A-theory of time is likewise assumed but not argued at length (thankfully due to its technical complexity!). It may be argued that the arguments also assume an anti-realist position regarding the truth value of counter factual statements. Although this is not dealt with directly, an argument is introduced to suggest that an anti-realist position is not necessary due to what Craig calls the “instantiation of the actual world”. Both the lay reader and the academic who have an interest in and at least a basic familiarity with philosophy will find much to ponder and enjoy in this book. I pray it will help me to remain confident in what scripture affirms on these topics and develop a systematic theology that is faithful to the whole counsel of God’s word.Rating Based On Books The Only Wise God: The Compatibility of Divine Foreknowledge & Human Freedom
Ratings: 4.26 From 207 Users | 26 ReviewsDiscuss Based On Books The Only Wise God: The Compatibility of Divine Foreknowledge & Human Freedom
An excellent book that shreds the myth that Divine Foreknowledge and human free will are not compatible. Craig makes use of the Ockhamist solution as well as a thorough yet brief solution via God's middle knowledge of counterfactual future contingent propositions to refute fatalism. An interesting chapter on Newcomb's paradox adds to the philosophical intrigue concerning this subject. Highly recommended.A short but thorough defense of the compatibility of divine foreknowledge and human free will. Most of the book is an argument against fatalism, the idea that what will be must necessarily be. Criag shows how fatalism rests on fallacious arguments, and that God can in fact know the future without causing it or necessitating it. The final two chapters deal with God's middle knowledge, and how that knowledge is also compatible with human freedom.Highly recommended.
Books like this always remind me of the commandment that we are to love God with all our mind, not just our heart and soul. Craig helps remind us of this too as he mentions that too often we just say topics like this are part of God's mysteriousness. Not necessarily so; there are blessings to delving in and trying to gain knowledge of how God knows what He knows. It is written in normal language without heavy philosophical words. Craig goes about showing that divine foreknowledge and human free
A good and accessible defense of the notion of Divine "Middle Knowledge" although I think the concept could have been introduced much earlier in the work and I do not feel like this book is the final work on this subject. Some deeper discussion of open theism would have been helpful.
Great investigation on the nature of God's knowledge and foreknowledge. Craig, a respected apologist of the Christian faith presents in few words (only 150 pages) an alternative understanding of foreknowledge and election. This book is not perfect, he really needed another 500 pages to expound, but it is a start. Most importantly he highlights that Calvanist are not the only monergist in town. There is a logically consistent way to simultaneously endorse the "free will" and "divine sovereignty"
This reviewer has long been fascinated with the debate about God's knowledge of the future and man's free will. William Lane Craig has done much theological and philosophical research into the attributes of God and the nature of time. He condensed his research into a relatively short and concise presentation that focuses specifically on how to reconcile the scriptural claims that God knows what every person will do, yet every person is free to do something else. The book is "The Only Wise God:
This book is a clear, illuminating philosophical discussion of how it might be that we can consistently hold to both the doctrine of divine foreknowledge and the idea of human freedom. William Lane Craig argues that we need not hold to fatalism (the idea that what will be must be) but only the immutability of the future (the idea that what will be merely will be but need not actually be). The wording here might seem difficult to grasp, but it boils down to the idea that God's foreknowledge is
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