Luis de Molina
1535–1600 · Spanish Jesuit priest, theologian and jurist of the School of Salamanca
Luis de Molina (Cuenca, 1535 – Madrid, 1600) was a Spanish Jesuit priest, theologian and jurist, a prominent figure of the School of Salamanca and of late scholasticism. His name is attached to Molinism, a doctrine of divine grace and free will that tried to reconcile God's foreknowledge with human freedom.
He studied law at Salamanca before joining the Society of Jesus in 1553, and he trained and taught at the universities of Coimbra and Évora. His main work, the Concordia on free will and the gifts of grace, appeared in Latin in 1588 and provoked a long dispute with the Dominicans. In 1597 Pope Clement VIII convened the Congregatio de Auxiliis to examine his views, and in 1607 Paul V halted the debates without a final verdict.
Molina held that people can perform naturally good acts through their own strength, while supernatural goods require grace. He introduced the notion of middle knowledge, by which God knows what every free creature would do in any circumstance, and on that basis grounds his predestining decrees. In political thought he argued that power lies with the citizens taken together, not with the ruler, who is merely an administrator. His treatise De iustitia et iure addresses contractual justice and the just price. His ideas shaped later theology and the debate over human freedom.
Key ideas
- Free will: people can act freely and perform naturally good deeds, though salvation requires divine grace.
- Middle knowledge: God knows in advance what each free creature would do in every circumstance, and grounds his predestination on that knowledge.
- Political power: authority rests with the citizens collectively, not with the ruler, who acts as an administrator.
- Just price: the value of a good is not determined by its usefulness alone, as the pearl example shows.
Curiosities
From law to the Society of Jesus
While studying at Salamanca he discovered Ignatius of Loyola's Spiritual Exercises, which led him to join the Society of Jesus and leave his law studies.
A pearl and the just price
In De iustitia et iure he argued that the just price of a pearl, usable only as an ornament, is higher than that of grain or horses, even though those are more useful.
Original Filopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.