An Argument For Free Will

We believe that God created the world according to His wisdom. It is not the product of any necessity whatsoever, nor of blind fate or chance. We believe that it proceeds from God's free will; He wanted to make His creatures share in His being, wisdom, and goodness: "For You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created" (Rev 4:11). Therefore the Psalmist proclaims: "O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all" (Psalms 104:24); and "The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that He has made" (Psalms 145:9). (CCC 295)

God created the world of His own free will -- not out of necessity, or by blind will or chance. God was not forced to create this world and us men. He freely chose to do so. God has free will.

"Okay. So?" you say. Furthermore, God created man in His own image. Logic would suggest that if A contains B and C is like A, then C also contains B. By that reasoning, God has given man free will so that we also may know God, love God and serve God -- not by blind will or chance -- but because we choose to. After all, my wife's love for me would not me nearly as important to me were she forced to love me. It is only because she loves is out of her own free will (I think!) that I cherish it so greatly. Would God not think similarly?

This suggests that while proponents point out that the term "free will" is not mentioned in the Bible, it (like "Trinity") is implied by logic.

Now the rebuttal will be that predestination is likewise supported by Scripture citing examples such as Pharaoh's hardened heart (Exodus 7-11). The Church teaches in this instance that Pharaoh freely chose his sins and that God, ironically out of love and justice, allowed Pharaoh's heart to be hardened as a natural byproduct of his sins. In this scenario, it is plausible that one could state that God, who exists outside of our time line, could foresee Pharaoh's choice to turn his back on God and thus harden his own heart. But the hardening came as a result of the choices Pharaoh made out of free will; not because he was predestined to do so.