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Open theism posits that God possesses comprehensive knowledge of every possible future but is unaware of which particular future will be actualized due to human free will. Wouldn't this result in the same thing as Molinism? If God has exhaustive knowledge of every potential future, He knows precisely how each individual would act in any given situation. Thus, God would be aware of whether a person will ultimately be good or bad from the moment of their birth. Isn't this analogous to Molinism's concept of "middle knowledge"?

One could argue that God's awareness of possibilities is so vast that He comprehends every conceivable outcome for an individual, not just every choice they might make. For instance, there exists a potential world where I become a terrorist, and another where I become a priest. God understands all these possibilities in perfect detail but is unaware of which one will unfold because it depends on my exercise of free will.

However, wouldn't this contradict the Christian concept of the soul? This perspective seems to suggest that there is no inherent soul, and that a person's character is entirely contingent on circumstances. For example, if I had been born to strict Muslim parents, I might have become an extremist Muslim. If I'm not misunderstanding open theism, it appears to imply that a person's characteristics are solely determined by the random chance of their upbringing.

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  • "If I'm not misunderstanding open theism" — This question would benefit from the addition of brief summaries of your understanding of the relevant parts of Open Theism and Molinism. I suspect the problem isn't with the conclusions, but with these postulates.
    – Ray Butterworth
    Commented Aug 1 at 12:55

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How much God knows isn't really specified by Open Theism - but only what he doesn't know: our freewill decisions. This means that at one extreme, God knows everything that can be known - but this doesn't include our decisions. And given the combinatorial complexity of all the decisions that everyone makes at each moment - there are an explosive number of possible futures. However, there's nothing preventing an Open Theist from maintaining that God is less informed than this; Open Theists tend to call into question the Omni-ness of God as these ideas tend to come from Greek Philosophy rather than scripture.

Now, no matter what path of choices becomes realized as we progress towards the future, it does not dictate our future choices (only future options). Until a man dies he always has the option to do good - and thus as long as a man is alive there is no future in which the man is doomed to damnation. That is, except for the sin of blasphemy of the HS, being an unforgivable sin. If a man chooses to do this, then it doesn't seem possible for him to be saved. But this course of action is never one that can be forced upon an individual, no matter the course of history.

As such, no: Open Theism is not the same as Molinism for it is not the case that knowledge of the possibilities dictates knowledge of what our future freewill decisions will be.

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  • How is 1 John 3:20, John 14:6, or Psalm 139 "greek philosophy" and not Scripture?
    – Wyrsa
    Commented Aug 1 at 13:48
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Open Theology does not equate to Molinism. God has an overall plan, He keeps all actions within that plan. Men have free will of the thoughts and intents of their hearts and minds.

  • Hebrews 4:12 KJV For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

We are judged on our thoughts and intents, which can change with time or with every new concoction that comes about.

  • Ephesians 4:14 KJV That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

God’s foreknowledge is of his overall plan and the predetermined events that he will guide and direct history to and make happen.

God provides the choices for man to make. The consequences of those choices are predetermined. Hence, there is no endless array of future possibilities. Most of the course that history has taken is due to God’s judgments upon men whether individually or as a group including nations.

Open Theology is quite simple to understand and is biblically sound. Most try and make it too complicated, probably at the direction of the author of confusion to keep people from the truth.

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