Is Middle Knowledge Theologically Useful?

Dr. Craig explains how Molinism helps to reconcile God's sovereignty and human freedom!

INTERVIEWER: Lots of people refer to these subjunctive conditionals about what creatures would freely do as “counterfactuals of creaturely freedom.” And Molinism says (at least typical Molinists will say) not only does God have this kind of middle knowledge of these counterfactuals of creaturely freedom, but it's a very handy thing for him to have – it's providentially useful, say. So could you say a little bit about how middle knowledge is supposed to be sort of providentially useful on the Molinist view?

DR. CRAIG: The reason that having this middle knowledge is so useful is that it makes the divine decree reckon with human freedom. He knows how creatures would freely choose, and so he's not just blindly creating a world and then – surprise! surprise! – he sees what that world is and what's going to happen. Rather, he knows what the world will be like because he knew that if he were to create these creatures in these circumstances, they would freely choose to do such and such. And so by having middle knowledge it can guide God in his creative decree so that God creates a world of free creatures that fulfills his ultimate intentions for humanity, but it does so without abrogating human freedom. God's ultimate purposes are achieved through the human free decisions rather than in spite of or against them. In general, it is admitted that apart from a doctrine of middle knowledge it is impossible to give an account of divine providence that affirms both divine sovereignty and human libertarian freedom. Those who deny one or the other wind up either annihilating human freedom or else denying God's sovereignty. So even the opponents of middle knowledge admit that it is indeed essential to a robust doctrine of divine providence