Calvinism vs Human Free Will
Dr. Craig contrasts elements of Calvinism and Molinism.
MICHAEL LOFTON: Could you maybe, just briefly, define for us what exactly Calvinism is and how maybe Molinism compares to it?
DR. CRAIG: Calvin, like Luther, had a very, very strong doctrine of divine providence and sovereignty. He claimed that God unilaterally and causally determines everything that happens. So on Calvinistic views and Lutheran views, human freedom (at least with respect to salvation) is an illusion. There is no libertarian free will. At best we do things voluntarily, but we are determined unilaterally by God to do whatever we do. So the tension is only resolved by denying libertarian freedom which is not a reconciliation at all, it's simply choosing one horn of the dilemma.
MICHAEL LOFTON: Could you maybe also go over some biblical support for human freedom, just for those who might be skeptical of it. Anything that comes to mind?
DR. CRAIG: I've laid these out in my little book The Only Wise God where I list a series of texts throughout the Bible that show that human beings have significant freedom in relation to God. These would include things, for example, that God rewards good and punishes evil, which would be impossible, I think, if he determined everybody to do what they do. Prayers to God are not just showpieces that have been scripted by God but they are the cry of the human heart to God. I think most persuasively would be the fact that even though Scripture says that it is God's will that no one be lost but that all should reach repentance – that all should be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth – nevertheless it teaches clearly that some people will, in fact, be lost and not come to a knowledge of the truth. The only way to explain that is, I think, by human libertarian free will which resists the will of God for their lives. I don't think that God causally determines people to go to hell. That would be contrary to his goodness and love. He wants everyone to be saved, and the fact that not everyone is saved can only be attributable, I think, plausibly to human freedom.