Is Molinism as Depressing as Calvinism?

I had a question regarding God's Foreknowledge which is a topic that consistently eats away at my heart.

I was looking at an article Dr. Craig wrote on middle knowledge and I was wondering:

How does middle knowledge take us away from the idea of determinism? If God picks which world is created and in that world someone I know is not saved and cannot be saved...is this suggesting that in no such world would that person ever be saved? Do we then just assume that God has created a world in which everyone who can be saved in ANY world will be saved and ANY who can't be saved, won't be? And if that's the case, what good is human prayer in this situation? Doesn't it kind of just make it so that anyone who prays for what God has already done is going to have his/her prayer "answered" and the others wont? I would have thought the answer would be that God would have factored human prayer into His decision making and plan for the world (not that we change God's mind, per se) but it seems like if God's creation decree already established salvation/damnation...does it matter?

When I try and ponder God's foreknowledge and my life, I have horrible doubts. I feel incredibly depressed and guilty because my mind cannot reconcile it all. I feel like Calvinism suggests that God predetermines everything and we are all following a script which makes everything seem meaningless to me (and to Dr. Craig, as he says in his answer)...but middle knowledge seems to suggest that God predetermines us by choosing which world we exist in, so it seems like it's not too different from calvinism, it's just a step higher (I would love clarification here)...and then armenianism suggests that God draws all to Him, but not all are saved, yet God does things in the world that bring people to salvation and yet does not do them to some other people, which suggests either arbitrary behavior or some form of higher knowledge.

I genuinely hate it because I have always been a relatively strong Christian but I have opened this pandoras box that I cant figure out how to shut.

I know this question was a bit "rambly" and I know that someone other than Dr. Craig is probably going to answer, which is cool, but ....I guess my final question is...How do you live life with joy? How do you not fear that maybe someday something might happen that brings doubt into your heart and then you start to wonder like "what if I'm one of those people who could never be saved and just thought I was?" I know it sounds ridiculous, but I worry myself about this kind of thing and am genuinely seeking the advice of fellow Christians on this matter. I never thought about this kind of stuff until I got into the whole foreknowledge debate. Unfortunately this kind of discussion goes way beyond the current level of understanding of the members of my church and I can't really have this kind of discourse.

Thanks very much for any and all input.

Mike


United States


Click HERE to read Dr. Craig's answer