Molina's Troubles and Middle Knowledge

The speaker introduces the talk by acknowledging the need for apologies and thank yous. They explain the talk is about Tolkien and the Silmarillion but does not start that way. The speaker delves into the troubles of Luis de Molina and his concern over the compatibility of free will and divine providence. Molina believes that for human acts to be truly free, they must be our own and not caused by anything else, not even God. This leads to the problem of reconciling human freedom with the idea that God is the ultimate source of everything. Molina proposes the doctrine of middle knowledge to solve this problem, stating that some of God's knowledge is prior knowledge of contingent things. God knows what will happen in every possible case and how he will respond, without taking away human freedom.