Download Freedom and the Moral Act – 2

The Free Human Act
The existence of freedom is a basic premise in Catholic morality
The person that reaches a high degree of freedom becomes capable of high
levels of morality.
The sinful person ends up being a slave to his passions, therefore his freedom is
reduced and can be lost entirely.
Two specific elements of our souls are found in freedom:
Intellect
Will
Existence of Freedom
No other historical period has so strongly claimed the role of freedom in personal
and social life
Some still deny that freedom exists
Mankind lacks freedom and is dominated by circumstances
Human freedom is limited because the human is a limited being.
One is not free to be who or what he/she pleases
God has chosen each of us for Himself, to share his eternal life
The freedom we have is the freedom to establish a loving relationship with
Jesus Christ through the action of the Holy Spirit.
The existence of freedom can be proven by scripture as well as by reason
The OT presents their relationship between mankind and God in terms of
freedom.
God gave man some precepts, but man has the ability to reject them to his
detriment
Sirach 15:14-17
Freedom and the knowledge of the truth
Freedom has a fundamental dependence upon the truth
Freedom supposes knowledge of the truth
The proper use of freedom increases our capacity to love the truth and grow in
the knowledge of moral virtue.
The truth will make you free (Jn 8:32)
Truth is not the same as opinion or desire
Truth corresponds to an objective reality
The intimate relationship between freedom and truth is broken when a
person tries to determine what is right and wrong according to his likes
and dislikes.
Freedom and the Good
Human freedom is ordered toward good and not evil.
One never loses the capability to make choices, but the habit of making correct
moral choices is necessary for freedom to function.
Freedom is not rooted in the ability to do evil, but in the moral duty to do good
We all have the physical ability to do a great number of morally objectionable
things, but we have the moral duty to avoid them.
A person increases his freedom when he rejects evil and does good.
Evil enslaves
“Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to any one as obedient
slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey, either of sin, which
leads to death, or of obedience which leads to righteousness.” Rom 6:16)
“The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no
true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to
disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to the slavery of
sin.” (CCC, 1734)
Freedom and Responsibility
Each person is responsible for his actions and their consequences, and society
responds according to what these actions merit.
There is no such thing as a freedom that is independent of responsibility.
God’s Respect of Human Freedom
God will not destroy the freedom of the individual, because to do so would
reduce the person to the level of an animal.
We cannot blame God for the human evils that find their origins in the
abuse of freedom.
War, hunger, crime, drugs, AIDS are not desired by God
Our freedom is limited and capable of error.
Adam freely committed the original sin
Freedom and Divine Grace
All the aid that God offers us does not diminish our freedom
The proper use of freedom enables a person to gradually align his will with
God’s.
The Christian who habitually makes correct moral choices – contrary to many
people’s opinions – is more able to make correct moral choices than the person
who lives by his instincts or desires.
Freedom and the Law
Freedom is the power that a person has over his own acts.
Freedom should not be used to form a neutral attitude in regard to moral choices.
Freedom and law cannot truly oppose one another
When conscience is correctly formed, one sees the true harmony between
morally binding laws and his freedom.
The key to freedom is prudence, which is the ability to make and carry out correct
moral decisions.
To be free, we must plan to make the correct choices and carry them through.
Man is responsible for the good or evil of his free acts
For an act to be good or evil, there needs to be knowledge and consent
Only an act that results from cone=sent and freedom can be called a moral act
Conclusion
Free will – which is our power to choose between different alternatives, our
power to say yes or no – characterizes mankind and forms the basis of his
dignity, enabling him to bear personal responsibility.
A person is free only when he can choose.
Throughout our lives, we are constantly on a road, coming to cross roads, and
choosing. As we choose, we are getting closer to our destination, or farther away
from it.
Some restrictions are safeguards to freedom