Salvation and Sovereignty: A Molinist Approach Book

For as long as I've been a Christian, I was what one would call a classical Arminian. I believed that God loved all people, that Jesus died on the cross for all people, that God sent prevenient grace to all people which was resistible, and that human beings have libertarian free will. However, at the same time, there were parts of scripture that troubled me. While I did and still do affirm every doctrine I just listed, there were portions of scripture that seemed to strongly support Calvinistic doctrines such as unconditional election, perserverance of the saints, and that God has meticulous sovereign control over all things. I found Arminian attempts to interpret these passages to be strained and it seemed like they were trying to shoehorn these passages into their theology. At the same time, I couldn't affirm that Jesus only died for the elect or that only wanted certain people saved because The Bible overwhelmingly contradicted such a notion in a multitude of places (to say nothing of it impinging on Perfect Being Theology).

Praise God for the work of Luis De Molina. Through Molinism, I have found a soteriological stance and a stance on divine sovereignty and human freedom that incorporates the insights of the Calvinists while avoiding the exegetical and philosophical problems Calvinism has, while also incorporates the biblical truths Arminians defend.

In this book, Kenneth Keathley provides a statement that acts as an abtract for the entire book. He writes "In his book "Salvation and Sovereignty", Kenneth Kealthey explains in a summarized form why he is a Molinist. Keathley speaks for me when he writes:

"So why do I embrace Molinism? Because, like the Calvinist, I am convinced The Bible teaches that (1) God is sovereign and His control is meticulous; (2) man is incapable of contributing to his salvation or of even desiring to be saved; (3) God through Christ is Author, accomplisher, and completer of salvation (i.e., salvation is a work of grace from beginning to end); and (4) individual election is unconditional; and (5) the believer is secure in Christ. However, like the Arminian, I am also convinced The Bible teaches that (6) God is not the Author, Origin, or Cause of sin (and to say that He is, is not just hyper-Calvinism but blasphemy); (7) God genuinely desires the salvation of all humanity; (8) Christ genuinely died for all people; (9) God's grace is resistible (this means that regeneration does not precede conversion); and (10) humans genuinely choose, are causal agents, and are responsible for the sin of rejecting Christ (this means that the alternative of accepting salvation was genuinely available to the unbeliever). As we will see, there is only one position that coherently holds to all ten affirmations, and that is Molinism."

In science, one should go with the hypothesis that has the greatest explanatory scope of the data. I think the same should go for theology; which some have dubbed the "mother of all sciences". Classical Arminianism and Classical Calvinism can explain certain portions of biblical teaching, but they cannot explain the ENTIRETY of biblical teaching. Molinism far exceeds Classical Arminianism and Classical Calvinism in explanatory scope in explaining the soteriological data. This is one of the primary reasons that I consider myself a Molinist.

In this book, Kenneth Keathley provides biblical defense for the 10 affirmations that lead him to Molinism as the best explanation. I won't ever write a book defending my own soteriological position because I believe Keathley has already done that. I can't think of a single line of this book I disagree with. If you are like me and you find yourself unsatisfied with your current soteriological position (perhaps you're an Arminian of the Roger Olson variety or a Calvinist of the John Piper variety), then I highly admonish you to buy and read this book. Keathley provides the perfect middle ground between hard Arminianism and hard Calvinism. Keathley provides a Molinistic view of soteriology that explains the entirety of biblical teaching.