1. WHY ARE WE FREE?
Class #8, Q3—RS3

2. QUESTION:
Why did God give us free will if he could have just programmed us to always do the right thing and always choose the best?

3. FIDES ET RATIO Written by JPII in 1998 It states that a person needs:
FAITH and
REASON
To know the TRUTH
“God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth” (#1)

4. FAITH AND REASON What is REASON? What is FAITH?
According to this document, REASON refers to all that which can be studied and measured
Examples:
PHILOSOPHY
SCIENCE
MATH
What is FAITH?
“Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)

5. FREEDOM AND MORALITY
“Freedom is so central to the moral life that without it we cannot properly speak of being moral persons at all. If we are beyond freedom, then we are beyond morality.” -Richard Gula

6. ORIGINAL SIN What was the Original Sin?
“God knows well that the moment you eat of [the fruit] your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods.” –The Serpent (Genesis 3:5)
And what happened after they ate it?
“they realized that they were naked.” (3:7)
It was PRIDE that led to DISOBEDIENCE

7. CONCUPISCENCE
Definition: The human inclination to sin, originating from Original Sin.
So what does Baptism do?
Baptism washes us free from the GUILT of Original Sin, but…
Concupiscence remains

8. Catechism #1730
"God willed that man should be 'left in the hand of his own counsel,' so that he might of his own accord:
seek his Creator and
freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to [God].”
We are made free so that we may ON OUR OWN choose to love & follow GOD
We are never forced to love. It’s impossible.