Question of the Week #982: Molinist Views of Sin
Reasonable Faith Podcast
William Lane Craig
4.7 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 2 April 2026
⏱️ 5 minutes
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Read this Question of the Week Here: https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/question-answer/molinist-views-of-sin
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, Dr. Craig. I've been looking through your views on soteriology and hermatiology, and I'd like some clarification on something. |
| 0:20.5 | If we maintain libertarian free will and reject the classic doctrine of original sin, inheritance |
| 0:26.1 | of guilt and a corrupted nature, instead believing that the inclination to sin is due to |
| 0:31.1 | a combination of our animalistic self-preserving instincts and exposure to a morally corrupt |
| 0:36.1 | social environment, sinlessness still appears to be |
| 0:39.0 | metaphysically possible for any individual, given that they are still free to choose to do good |
| 0:43.8 | or evil at any point. Does this mean that due to the sheer frequency and power of temptation, |
| 0:50.2 | the universality of sin is a matter of statistical inevitability rather than theological necessity, |
| 0:56.2 | or in other words, that sinlessness for any individual is metaphysically possible, but has a |
| 1:01.0 | probability of 0%. Also, in your Molinist framework, would you say that a world where some humans |
| 1:07.6 | remain sinless is metaphysically possible but not feasible for God to |
| 1:11.6 | actualize, with the assumption that these humans have libertarian free will exist after the fall |
| 1:16.8 | and do not possess superadded grace, or that it is feasible and that God prefers a world in which |
| 1:22.6 | no person remains sinless, perhaps for reasons pertaining to the optimal balance of saved individuals? |
| 1:28.7 | As an aside, your teaching materials have been incredibly helpful and formative in my own |
| 1:33.3 | theological views, and you've made me a recent convert to Molynism after being long undecided |
| 1:38.8 | on the nature of God's sovereignty and predestination. I had previously disagreed with the notion |
| 1:44.1 | of imputed guilt in |
| 1:45.4 | original sin, but I hadn't considered rejecting the corrupted nature part, so I needed to think |
| 1:50.8 | through the implications. Blessings, Rowan, United Kingdom. I don't suppose that you are the |
| 1:56.8 | former Archbishop of Canterbury, are you, Rowan? Your theological acumen is evident in the |
| 2:03.8 | question you ask. You have ably summarized my view and drawn out its implication that while it is |
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