Part Three: Life in Christ › Section One of Part Three: Man’s Vocation - Life in the Spirit ›› CHAPTER 1: The Dignity of the Human Person ››› Article 3: Man’s Freedom

› IN BRIEF

Questions and Answers

1751. Why does God want man to be free? (CCC 1730) God wants man to be free so that man:
1. might of his own accord seek his Creator
2. might freely attain his perfection by cleaving to Him.
1752. What is freedom? (CCC 1731) Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that and so to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility.
Reason and will form the higher part of the human soul.
1753. When does human freedom attain its perfection? (CCC 1731) Human freedom attains its perfection when directed toward God.
1754. How long is there a possibility that man may fall into evil? (CCC 1732) There is a possibility that man may fall into evil as long as his freedom has not bound itself definitively to its ultimate good which is God.
The latter is the case only in heaven.
1755. How does freedom grow? (CCC 1733) Freedom grows by doing what is good.
1756. Why is the choice to do evil an abuse of freedom? (CCC 1733) The choice to do evil is an abuse of freedom, because it destroys it and leads to the slavery of sin.
1757. To what extend is man responsible for his acts? (CCC 1734) Man is responsible for his acts to the extent that they are voluntary.
1758. How can responsibility for an action be diminished or nullified? (CCC 1735) Responsibility for an action can be diminished or nullified by ignorance, duress, fear, inordinate attachments and other psychological or social factors.
1759. What act is imputable to its author? (CCC 1736) An act directly willed is imputable to its author.
1760. When is an action indirectly voluntary? (CCC 1736) An action is indirectly voluntary when it results from negligence regarding something one should have known or done.
1761. When is a bad effect of a directly willed action not imputable? (CCC 1737) A bad effect of a directly willed action is not imputable if it was not willed either as an end of an action or as a means of an action.
1762. When is a bad effect of a directly willed action imputable? (CCC 1737) A bad effect of a directly willed action is imputable under two conditions:
1. it was foreseeable
2. it was avoidable.
1763. What is “the right to the exercise of freedom”? (CCC 1738) “The right to the exercise of freedom” is the claim of every human person to be recognized by others as a free and responsible being especially in moral and religious matters.
1764. What follows from the abuse of human freedom in the economy of salvation? (CCC 1739) From the abuse of human freedom in the economy of salvation follows a multitude of sins.
1765. How does man violate his freedom? (CCC 1740) Man violates his freedom by deviating from the moral law.
1766. Why is the salvation wrought by Christ the source of our freedom? (CCC 1741) The salvation wrought by Christ is the source of our freedom, because through it Christ:
1. has liberated us from the bondage of sin
2. has given us the truth that makes us free
3. lets us glory in the liberty of the children of God.
1767. Why is Christ’s grace not a rival of human freedom? (CCC 1742) Christ’s grace is not a rival of human freedom, because the promptings of grace, on the contrary, make us grow in freedom.