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Dr. James White claims that Psalm 33 is biblical evidence of exhaustive divine determinism (EDD) and reason to reject the idea that humans possess libertarian freedom. In 2018 Tyson James published an article here on the FreeThinking Ministries website suggesting otherwise. At the end of 2021 James White made two videos in response to Tyson's article. Before continuing it's vital to define our terms: : (1) Referring to an agent’s choice, action, evaluation, or judgement tha

Since publishing Human Freedom, Divine Knowledge, and Mere Molinism , many have asked for a resource to help study the book as an individual, in small groups, and even in seminary classrooms. My colleague Timothy Fox encouraged me to write a companion to the book that would help readers know the main points and exactly what they ought to take away from each chapter. I told Fox that this was a great idea, but that I currently did not have the time since I was committed to othe

“Those who think they know the Gospel best are frequently the most surprised by its true shape, content, boundaries, and purposes.” -Matthew Bates, The Gospel Precisely The purpose of apologetics as an outward defense of the Christian faith must be intimately tied to the Christian call to make disciples. This means that a proper apologetic must have as its foundation that same firm ground that Scripture gives for evangelism and discipleship.  This firm ground, known to us as

Question Dear Dr. Stratton, I hang out in atheist debate groups. These are among the top reasons why many Christians have "deconstructed" and are Christians no longer. 1. The Theory of Evolution 2. Santa Claus 3. Prejudice against homosexuality I don't think the church gives good answers on any of them. 1 and 3 were listed among the reasons why Rhett and Link "deconstructed." I honestly don't know why we perpetuate the Santa myth. How would you address these "Top 3" reasons f

*This article was originally published at Bare Bones Blog of Philosophy : https://barebonesblogofphilosophy.wordpress.com/2021/12/06/defining-philosophy-a-conceptual-analysis-in-progress/ For the first post on this blog, I will reflect on the nature of philosophy by providing a working definition of ‘philosophy.’ This is a difficult job. It is easier to evaluate other definitions than to construct one. Yet, I will start with some brief assessments as an underpinning for my o

Question Hey Dr. Tim, I've been thinking about Molinism for several years (coming from a Calvinist perspective). If I understand it correctly God exercises providential control through middle knowledge of what free creatures would do in any set of circumstances. My question is that given that a huge number of circumstances depend on other choices of free creatures, isn't God severely restricted in what circumstances he can arrange? Given the massive providential control the

It seems some of my comments have been the source of much confusion. Sometimes, something can be so clear in one's head, yet one fails to communicate exactly what is in one's head. I seem to be guilty of this regarding some of my claims about compatibilism. Although many have let me know that they grasp what I have attempted to communicate and argue regarding compatibilism, there are still far too many people -- especially advocates of exhaustive divine determinism (EDD) --

I recently responded to James White's video discussing William Lane Craig. Not only did White summarize his discussion with Craig, he also brought up me, myself, and I. So, I decided to "go live" on YouTube and discuss White's comments -- specifically his claim that he had a "fatal objection" to Molinism. To watch my video response to Dr. White CLICK HERE . To read a shorter response CLICK HERE . After watching my response video, Dr. White asked me the following question on

Question Hey Dr. Stratton, As you know, James White and William Lane Craig had a discussion on Justin Brierly's Unbelievable show on Monday (11-29-21). Although this conversation has not yet been made public (it's being released on 12-3-21), Dr. White made a video summarizing the debate. White made many claims in this video. The one that really got my attention is when he stated that he has a "fatal blow" against Molinism that no Molinist has ever thought about. Here is the

The majority of my time seems to be spent arguing against deterministic world views and for the proposition that humans possess libertarian freedom. I then seek to demonstrate how human freedom in a libertarian sense is evidence pointing to the existence of God. In fact, I contend that the biblical view of God is the best explanation of this seemingly supernatural phenomena! Often, however, after I have made a case concluding, "Therefore, humans possess libertarian freedom,"

Each year my hometown does a big fundraiser for the non-profits based in the area. This year the Give Where You Live fundraising event will be held on Thursday, December 2, 2021, from midnight to midnight. We have a $10,000+ matching opportunity, so, for every dollar a person uses to support FTM, it magically becomes two dollars. If one person gives $10,000, it magically becomes $20,000! FreeThinking Ministries is devoted to equipping the Church to engage the culture. We als

Objection: Here's an objection to Molinism that was shared on the Mere Molinism Facebook group : "By the way, Molinism is probably self-contradictory if we define a "possible world" as a "maximally consistent set of propositions," so we need to be clear what we mean by "possible worlds" when discussing Molinism. Here's why: 1. Let's call the set of possible worlds P. A subset of those is the set of feasible worlds. It's a tenet of Molinism that the set of feasible worlds coul

Everyone wants to be special, set apart and significant.  One of the ways this manifests itself in our culture is through the concept of gender identity.  This is a real issue that many people struggle with in our society and should be taken seriously. However, it has also become a social trend. For instance, a recent research study found that nearly 40% of Generation Z identify as members of the LGBT+ community, which is about four times the norm: The pollster who worked on

Have you ever had an interaction with someone that left you speechless?  It goes something like this: “I just don’t think that’s right.” “Are you serious?  Wow… Aren’t you supposed to be Christian?  Show some empathy or compassion, isn't that what Jesus would do!?” Pick the topic – abortion, eternal life, race, identity and a myriad of others.  This is often how some of those conversations end.  The highest moral ground goes to the one that is most empathetic to the plight

It is far too common to see many former church-goers today identify as an "ex-vangelical" or proclaim that they have "deconstructed" from the Christian faith. These are folks who were raised in the Church, but are now leaving the Church. This is a concern.  There are several factors contributing to this movement. <1 > > I believe, however, that one of the primary reasons as to why so many have come to reject Christianity today is because many theologians, pastors, Sunday scho

**Warning: This analysis contains major spoilers** (This review is for people who watched Squid Game and are needing to process what they watched and for people who do not intend to watch it but want to know how to have conversations about it.) “Squid Game,” the Korean show that has serious Hunger Games energy, is now the number one most watched series of all time on Netflix. This peaked my interest. Similar to the show “13 Reasons Why,” this show taps into essentially huma

Introduction Philip Swenson has recently offered an argument against Molinism. Although he opposes determinism and is a fellow libertarian freedom-fighter, he does not believe that God possesses middle knowledge. Thus, he believes that Molinism is false.  I have argued, however, that Swenson's view is extremely similar to "Mere Molinism." The Mere Molinist merely affirms both (i) humans possess libertarian freedom, and (ii) God possesses “what would happen if knowledge (with

Question Hey Dr. Stratton, I love your site and content. I am planning on reading your book soon. In the meantime I need your perspective on something. I love the MMA syllogism and the articles you’ve written on the subject of Molinism making the most sense of all the biblical data . But as someone who doesn’t hold to "once saved always saved" (due to my study of scripture), how can I reconcile the notion of "mere Molinism" with the warnings scripture gives of believers fall

In this episode of the FreeThinking Podcast Tim and I venture further into the world of metaphysics. We discuss the free will debate from a metaphysical perspective, including discussions on compatibilism, agent vs. event causation, and moral and rational responsibility. There's some new stuff in here we haven't necessarily covered before, so we'll be going back over some of it in the future. Check out this episode!

In this episode of the FreeThinking Podcast Tim and I venture further into the world of metaphysics. We discuss two competing views regarding the nature of time: A-Theory vs. B-Theory. We also briefly talk about the debate between perdurantists and endurantists regarding persistence. Check out this episode!