Karpov, K. V. ‘Middle Knowledge’ and the Forecasting Problems

Abstract: Teaching about ‘middle knowledge’ says that God has a special kind of knowledge which allows Him to now not only what a person would do under these or those circumstances but also to know what a person would actually do. The teaching was introduced by Louis de Molina in the 16th century. The fullest theory was suggested by Dekker. The author provides counter arguments for some aspects of Dekker’s theory about ‘middle knowledge’. All these counter arguments can be all reduced to the following ideas: 1) teaching about middle knowledge is not an adequate solution of the omniscience issue because it uses a very problematic interpretation of free will based on the principle of alternative possibilities; 2) quietism assumes that God exists outside time, but in such context the middle knowledge does not exist, either; 3) teaching about middle knowledge is excessive because there is another, more economic theory, that claims to solve this problem (Severinus Boethuis teaching about forecasting, prophesy and free will).

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