Molinism for Beginners

Thomas P. Flint, ‘Divine Providence’, in Thomas P. Flint and Michael Rea (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical Theology (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), pp. 262–285

Thomas Flint’s essay is a very good introduction to the doctrine of providence from a Christian–philosophical perspective. He analyzes the relation between a pancausal take on God’s sovereign and libertarian accounts of human freedom, and examines the strengths and weaknesses of Thomism, Open Theism and Molinism on the matter. As someone holding a Molinist position, Flint devotes more space to developing his ideas in this area; but this isn’t to say that his discussions of Thomism and Open Theism are too brief. In short, this essay is an engaging summary of these three positions, and definitely worth reading if you need a concise account of Molinism.