Luis de Molina (29 September 1535 – 12 October 1600) was a Spanish

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

and scholastic, a staunch defender of free will in the controversy over human liberty and God's grace. His theology is known as

Molinism Molinism, named after 16th-century Spanish Jesuit priest and Roman Catholic theologian Luis de Molina, is the thesis that God has middle knowledge. It seeks to reconcile the apparent tension of divine providence and human free will. Prominent ...

Life

From 1551 to 1562, Molina studied law in Salamanca, philosophy in Alcala de Henares, and theology in Coimbra. After 1563, he became a professor at the

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coi ...

, and afterward taught at the

University of Évora The University of Évora (''Universidade de Évora'') is a public university in Évora, Portugal. It is the second oldest university in the country, established in 1559 by the cardinal Henry, and receiving University status in April of the same ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. From this post he was called, at the end of twenty years, to the chair of moral

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, where he died. Besides other works he wrote ''De liberi arbitrii cum gratiae donis, divina praescientia, praedestinatione et reprobatione concordia'' (4 vols.,

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, 1588); a commentary on the first part of the '' Summa Theologiae'' of

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wi ...

(2 vols., fol., Cuenca, 1593); and a treatise ''De jure et justitia'' (6 vols., 1593–1609). It is to the first of these that his fame is principally due. It was an attempt to reconcile, in words at least, the

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

doctrines of

predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby G ...

and

efficacious grace Irresistible grace (also called effectual grace, effectual calling, or efficacious grace) is a doctrine in Christian theology particularly associated with Calvinism, which teaches that the saving Divine grace, grace of God is effectually applie ...

with the new ideals of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

concerning

free will Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actio ...

. Assuming that man is free to perform or not to perform any act whatever, Molina maintains that this circumstance renders the grace of God neither unnecessary nor impossible: not impossible, for God never fails to bestow grace upon those who ask it with sincerity; and not unnecessary, for grace, although not an efficient, is still a sufficient cause of salvation (''gratia mere sufficiens'', "merely sufficient grace"). Nor, in Molina's view, does his doctrine of free will exclude predestination. The omniscient God, by means of His ''scientia media'' (the phrase is Molina's invention, though the idea is also to be found in his older contemporary Fonseca), or power of knowing

future contingent Future contingent propositions (or simply, future contingents) are statements about states of affairs in the future that are '' contingent:'' neither necessarily true nor necessarily false. The problem of future contingents seems to have been fir ...

events, foresees how we shall employ our own free-will and treat his proffered grace, and upon this foreknowledge he can found his predestinating decrees. These doctrines, which opposed both traditional understanding of Augustinism and

Thomism Thomism is the philosophical and theological school that arose as a legacy of the work and thought of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), the Dominican philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, Aquinas' disputed questions ...

concerning the respective roles of free will and efficacious grace, and the teachings of

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

and

John Calvin John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...

, excited violent controversy in some quarters, especially on the part of the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

and of the

Jansenist Jansenism was an early modern theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in the Kingdom of France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. It was declared a heresy by th ...

s, and at last rendered it necessary for the Pope (

Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII ( la, Clemens VIII; it, Clemente VIII; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born ...

) to intervene. At first (1594) he simply enjoined silence on both parties so far as Spain was concerned; but ultimately, in 1598, he appointed the Congregatio de auxiliis Gratiae for the settlement of the dispute, which became more and more a party one. After holding very numerous sessions, the congregation was able to decide nothing, and in 1607 its meetings were suspended by

Paul V Pope Paul V ( la, Paulus V; it, Paolo V) (17 September 1550 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death in January 1621. In 1611, he honored ...

, who in 1611 prohibited all further discussion of the question de auxiliis and of discussions about efficacious grace, and studious efforts were made to control the publication even of commentaries on Aquinas . Several regent Masters of the Dominican College of St. Thomas, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (''Angelicum''), were involved in the Molinist controversy. The Dominicans Diego Álvarez (c. 1550–1635), author of the ''De auxiliis divinae gratiae et humani arbitrii viribus'', and Tomás de Lemos (1540–1629) were given the responsibility of representing the

in debates before

Pope Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII ( la, Clemens VIII; it, Clemente VIII; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born ...

and

Pope Paul V Pope Paul V ( la, Paulus V; it, Paolo V) (17 September 1550 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death in January 1621. In 1611, he honored ...

. The Molinist subsequently passed into the

controversy. Molina was also the first Jesuit to write at length on

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

and

contract law A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

. Prior to Molina's time, economic thought was closely tied to Catholic moral theology. Molina was part of an emerging trend which contributed to the separation of analysis of economic activity from theological questions of sin. This trend was a significant step towards the emergence of modern economics with

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——— ...

in the 18th century. In his writings on economics, Molina helped further develop a theory of

price inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

proposed by Juan de Medina and

Martín de Azpilcueta Martín de Azpilcueta (Azpilkueta in Basque) (13 December 1491 – 1 June 1586), or Doctor Navarrus, was an important Spanish canonist and theologian in his time, and an early economist who independently formulated the quantity theory of mone ...

in Salamanca, writing that " equal circumstances, the more abundant money is in one place, so much less is its value to buy things or to acquire things that are not money."Luis de Molina,
A Treatise on Money
''. CLP Academic, 2015, p.96.

Works

*''De liberi arbitrii cum gratiae donis, divina praescientia, praedestinatione et reprobatione concordia'', 4 vols., Lisbona, 1588; 2nd ed. Antwerp, 1595. * *''De jure et justitia'', 6 vols., 1593–1609. ** ** ** ** ** * ** File:Molina, Luis de – De Hispanorum primogeniorum origine ac natura, 1588 – BEIC 4510384.jpg, ''De Hispanorum primogeniorum origine ac natura'', 1588 File:Molina - De iustitia et iure, 1733 - 4495353.tif, ''De iustitia et iure'', 1733

Notes

References

*

by Alfred J. Freddoso on Luis Molina's thoughts.

from ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' (1911)

from ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' (1911) * Ulrich L. Lehner (ed.), ''Die scholastische Theologie im Zeitalter der Gnadenstreitigkeiten'' (monograph series, first volume: 2007) https://web.archive.org/web/20070812004619/http://www.bautz.de/rfn.html * Luis de Molina,
A Treatise on Money
'. CLP Academic, 2015.

External links

* ttps://archive.org/details/ondivineforeknow00moli/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater ''On Divine Foreknowledge: Part IV of the Concordia''at the Internet Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Molina, Luis 1535 births 1600 deaths Founders of philosophical traditions People from Cuenca, Spain University of Coimbra alumni 16th-century Spanish Roman Catholic theologians Spanish male writers 16th-century Spanish Jesuits Catholic philosophers University of Évora faculty Mercantilists University of Salamanca alumni 16th-century Spanish philosophers School of Salamanca 16th-century Spanish jurists Jesuit philosophers Jesuit theologians

Life

Works

Notes

References

Further reading

External links