It may seem like there isn’t any freedom in free will if one bad decision can damn you to hell for eternity. What does it really mean when Catholics say we have free will? Jimmy Akin, Catholic Answers Apologist, freely chooses to answer this question.
Transcript:
Caller: How do we have free will when we either have to choose between obeying God or going to Hell?
Jimmy Akin: One of the things that we need to bear in mind is that, as I said, there are different kinds of freedom, and it is not required for what most people would call “freedom” that it be consequence-less.
I mean, for example, we regard America as a free country, but if you commit murder—and you get caught—you’re gonna go to jail at the least. And that law is something that people are generally aware of. If you commit murder there are gonna be consequences, but we wouldn’t say that you lack free will because the law says that there will be consequences if you commit murder. It’s still up to you to decide are you going to commit murder or not.
And, in the same way, if God says “You know, um, I’ve given you freedom, but here are the consequences, pro and con, to what will happen depending on how you use that free will,” people would still generally say, “Well, okay then, you have free will; you have a genuine ability to choose what you’re going to do, and it’s an informed choice because you have knowledge of the consequences ahead of time.”