960318.03
> From: Robert Fischer <rfischer@eecs.harvard.edu>
> Date: Mon, 18 Mar 1996
> Subject: Free Will
>
> Father Mateo,
>
> I am confused about free will. I believe that central to
> God's plan for us as His children is a personal relationship
> with us. In order to have that relationship, He gave us the
> free will to turn away from Him. This position is
> supported, for example, by:
>
> *) Genesis (He made us "in His image")
> *) CCC 1730--1748
> *) "Crossing the Threshold of Hope", pp. 60--68 ("Why is
> there so much evil in the world?" and "Why does God
> tolerate suffering?")
>
> And yet, we know that we cannot come to faith by our own
> will, but only by the divine intervention of the Holy
> Spirit. It seems like we can't really choose, on our own,
> to turn towards or away from God. This is supported by:
>
> *) CCC 153--154
> *) Ephesians 1:5
> *) Romans 8:28-30
>
> Calvinists insist on recognizing the complete sovereignty of
> God, seemingly to the extent that we lose our will. At that
> point, does not God Himself become the author of evil?
>
> What do you make of this age-old problem?
>
> in Christ,
> --- Bob Fischer
Dear Robert,
That God and man cooperate in salvation is certain from Scripture
and tradition. But how God's supreme sovereignty is to be
reconciled with human freedom is a strict mystery. We cannot
understand it fully.
I shall set down some passages for you from the Encyclopedic
Dictionary of Religion on the subject, and hope you have a really
nice day!
"FREE WILL AND GRACE, elements of a salutary act. That
man's free will is not set aside by grace that invites, or
precedes, and assists his salutary or meritorious actions
is a doctrine of the Catholic faith. It was made explicit
esp. by the Council of Trent defining that free will under
the action of grace is not merely passive nor as it were,
lifeless, but active .....................................
When man accepts God's offer of grace and cooperates with
grace, or when grace is efficacious, then, the doctrine of
faith holds, his freedom of will remains complete (the
free will, it may be added, is perfected by grace). This
doctrine was stated firmly by St. Augustine, who taught
the coexistence of grace and free will without attempting
an explanation. Scholastic theology has made several
attempts at reconciling the concepts of free will and
grace...................................................
This much is certain: grace cannot destroy a spiritual
perfection such as freedom. In actual fact, it is
efficacious grace that makes the free consent actual;
grace is not efficacious without this free consent. (P.DE
LETTER.)
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