Divine Will and Human Choice

Description

The relationship between divine providence and human freedom remains one of the most vexing topics in Christian theology. Many gravitate to extreme ends of the spectrum, with a version of hyper-Calvinism on one end or perhaps some form of open theism on the other. Christian theology seems ever in search of a way to articulate a balanced picture of a sovereign God in relationship to humans who can make choices.

This fresh study from an internationally respected scholar of the Reformation and post-Reformation eras shows how the Reformers and their successors analyzed and reconciled the concepts of divine sovereignty and human freedom. Richard Muller argues that traditional Reformed theology supported a robust theory of an omnipotent divine will and human free choice and drew on a tradition of Western theological and philosophical discussion that included such predecessor thinkers as Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus. In arguing this case, the book provides historical perspective on a topic of current interest and debate–the issue of freedom and determinism–and offers a corrective based on a broader analysis of the sources.

Contents

Part I: Freedom and Necessity in Reformed Thought: The Contemporary Debate
1. Introduction: The Present State of the Question
2. Reformed Thought and Synchronic Contingency: Logical and Historical Issues
Part II: Philosophical and Theological Backgrounds: Aristotle, Aquinas, and Duns Scotus
3. Aristotle and Aquinas on Necessity and Contingency
4. Duns Scotus and Late Medieval Perspectives on Freedom
Part III: Early Modern Reformed Perspectives: Contingency, Necessity, and Freedom in the Real Order of Being
5. Necessity, Contingency, and Freedom: Reformed Understandings
6. Scholastic Approaches to Necessity, Contingency, and Freedom: Early Modern Reformed Perspectives
7. Divine Power, Possibility, and Actuality
8. Divine Concurrence and Contingency
9. Conclusions