Wordy Wednesday: Causal determinism

I’ve used the phrase “causal determinism” quite a lot recently when talking about the doctrine of Middle Knowledge/Molinism and one of it’s chief competitors, the Calvinistic notion of soverigenty which posits God as being the one who “decrees all that comes to pass”.

Since this isn’t a phrase that isn’t often used outside of philosophical circles, I figured it would be helpful to take a minute and define this term and how it has a significant bearing on the philosophical presuppositions we filter everything, including our interpretation of Scripture, through.

Simply put, causal determinism is the notion that every event is directly caused or decreed either by an impersonal force like the Fates or destiny, a natural series of causes and effects¹ constrained within a causally closed system², or a personal deity like Allah or, as some suppose, the God of the Hebrew Scriptures.

A more in-depth study regarding the validity of the notion of causal determinism³ is beyond the scope of this post. My intention here is to merely present the term for edification and clarification in the future as we explore what I believe to be one of the most significant divisions within all of Christendom. Indeed, I would argue (elsewhere of course) that the abandonment of causal determinism is one of the defining characteristics of Christianity.

1. Think about the famous, but hopelessly simplistic, debate regarding nature vs. nurture [↩]
2. That is, the notion that there are no non-material influences or causes. No souls or wills. Your mind is merely a biological information processing unit. [↩]
3. Or, as Turretinfan asserts, oozes from Scripture [↩]

Tags: causal decree, causal determinism, free will, philosophical naturalism, philosophy, sovereignty