From the Catholic perspective, free will is the God-given capacity of human beings to make choices, shaped by reason and will, yet influenced by sin and dependent on divine grace for its ultimate fulfillment in choosing the good.
The Catholic Church teaches that free will is an essential human faculty, bestowed by God, allowing individuals to make rational choices between good and evil. It’s rooted in the soul’s intellect and will, reflecting the divine image, but requires grace to align fully with God’s will.
Free will is the ability to act deliberately, guided by reason and desire, without external coercion. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 1730-1731) describes it as the power to choose freely, making humans responsible for their moral actions.
Original sin, inherited from Adam, weakens free will, inclining humans toward sin (concupiscence), but doesn’t destroy it. The Church teaches that this fallen state limits perfect freedom, necessitating grace to restore and perfect the will (CCC 405, 1739).
Grace, God’s free gift, enables and perfects free will, helping humans overcome sin and choose good. It doesn’t override freedom but cooperates with it, as humans must assent to grace willingly (CCC 1742, 2008). Augustine’s theology heavily shapes this view.
No, free will is not absolute. It’s limited by human nature, sin, and external factors like ignorance or coercion. True freedom, per Catholic teaching, is realized in choosing God and the good, not in unrestricted autonomy (CCC 1733).
St. Augustine argued that free will, though real, is impaired by sin and requires grace for salvation, as seen in works like On Grace and Free Will. His rejection of Pelagianism—denying grace’s necessity—solidified the Church’s stance.
Scripture supports free will in verses like Deuteronomy 30:19 (“Choose life”) and Sirach 15:14-17 (humans have a choice). Yet, Romans 7:19 (“I do not do the good I want”) reflects sin’s impact, balanced by grace in John 15:5 (“Apart from me you can do nothing”).
Free will underpins moral responsibility in Catholicism. The Church teaches that deliberate choices, made with knowledge and consent, determine culpability for sin or merit for virtue (CCC 1734-1737), linking freedom to accountability before God.
Catholicism balances free will with predestination, teaching that God’s foreknowledge and grace guide salvation without negating human choice. Unlike strict Calvinism, it holds that humans cooperate with grace freely, a mystery affirmed at the Council of Trent (CCC 600, 1993).
Free will is central because it enables love, the heart of Christian life. Without it, obedience to God would be robotic, not virtuous. It justifies moral law, sin, redemption, and eternal destiny, making humans partners in God’s plan (CCC 1730, 1749).