God's Willing Knowledge: The Influence of Scotus' Analysis of Omniscience

Rejecting his predecessors' views about omniscience, Duns Scotus radically emphasized the importance of God's willing for His knowing. Many people criticize Scotus's view as inconsistent with his claims about human freedom and minimize the influence of his analysis for subsequent discussions of God's knowledge. Yet Scotus's claims have been extremely influential. His emphasis on God's will and his nonlibertarian view of freedom are found in the writings of the most significant figures discussing divine knowledge: Calvin, Luther, Molina, and Leibniz.

God's Willing Knowledge analyzes Scotus's views about God's knowledge and human freedom, as well as the connections between these views and the views of classical proponents of God's omniscience. In addition, it ties these views to the contemporary exchange concerning the free will defense. The conclusion of the book is that, while Scotus's influential views about omniscience and human freedom are not inconsistent, the acceptance or rejection of his claims depend upon an evaluation of their moral implications.