Concordia of the Free Will - 7

De: Luis de Molina

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

Luis de Molina's Concordia liberi arbitrii (Harmony of Free Will), first published in 1588, is a landmark work in 16th-century philosophy and theology. Emerging from the revival of Iberian scholasticism during the Reformation era, it grapples with the perennial question of reconciling human freedom with divine grace, providence, foreknowledge, and predestination. This complex problem ignited the fierce De Auxiliis controversy, a major doctrinal dispute within the Catholic Church.

This seventh and final part—here published as Volume 4 in the English series—contains Molina’s complete doctrine on predestination and reprobation, the very heart of the De Auxiliis controversy that divided Jesuits and Dominicans for decades and required papal intervention.

Employing his celebrated “middle knowledge” (scientia media), Molina argues that God, knowing perfectly how every possible free creatures would act in every possible circumstance, sovereignly chooses the world order in which those who will freely cooperate with congruent grace are predestined to glory, while those who would freely reject it are justly passed over—all without any foreseen merit or demerit serving as the cause of predestination itself. In meticulous scholastic disputations Molina defines predestination and its effects, examines whether it is principally an act of intellect or will, clarifies the nature of reprobation, refutes Pelagian, Lutheran, and certain Thomistic opinions, and offers his own positive doctrine that safeguards both divine liberality and human freedom.

This volume faithfully reproduces the original 1588 dedications and approvals, includes the lengthy Appendix from the 1595 edition, and provides a new, clear, and readable English translation that preserves Molina’s precision while making his arguments accessible to contemporary readers.

An indispensable resource for theologians, philosophers, and historians interested in grace, freedom, and divine election—and the classic statement of Molinism in its original, unfiltered form.