We have free will because we can deliberate, but our choices do not proceed like Buridan’s Ass. On the contrary, we are the freest when we can easily and quickly choose the good, not when we are locked in indecision. A man who deeply loves his wife may hardly be tempted at all by a cheap and tawdry substitute. No one would deny that he acts freely when he flies to his beloved. The saints in heaven are utterly free and yet completely unable to sin. “Non posse peccare,” says St. Augustine. “Not able to sin.”
Most of us have not arrived at Christian perfection or the freedom of the saints. Imagine another man of basically good habits and moral knowledge who confronts strong temptation – to avoid pain or to seek some pleasure. He makes a conscious decision to sin despite his generally good condition. Someone who lies knowingly and with impunity, for example, to avoid conflict might fall in this category. He is conscious of what he should do and what he could do, but sins anyway. This is probably the closest we get to Buridan’s Ass. “Posse non peccare,” says Augustine. Possible not to sin. This is state of those with grace who nevertheless fall short of perfection.
There is another type of man of irregular habits and/or weak knowledge who slides around in a murky world of sordid temptation. He has no regular practice of virtue. He justifies his actions by circumstance. “Everyone does it,” he says. His decision to sin is easy, and often incremental. “Just a little bit more, a little bit farther, a little bit deeper,” until he arrives at something truly grave. All the while he suppresses the knowledge that something is not quite right. His actions are free, but his will is weak and his reason is darkened. He won’t pull himself out without grace, but he is nonetheless guilty. Non posse non peccare. Not possible not to sin. This is the case of those who need conversion.
The worst is the man of seared conscience. Through repeated sin he has buried the pain of self-knowledge beneath mountains of sordid habit and rational justification. Scripture depicts this condition as itself a punishment for sin. He is not innocent. He is truly guilty, but he has almost destroyed his freedom. The addict and the obstinate ideologue come to mind, like St. Paul who had to be knocked from his horse to come around.
There is a final case that is somewhat different. There are some who are genuinely ignorant or who act under compulsion. Imagine a child soldier in an African diamond war, for instance. This child does what he’s forced to do, without thought that he could even question those orders. He is an innocent victim.
Grace moves us from slavery to sin to true freedom. If we cooperate, we can move from a life of habitual sin to infrequent sin to Christian perfection and total freedom. But there is no guarantee of spiritual progress. Some people neglect the little things and refuse to make sacrifices. They do not confront their faults or try to correct them. Catholic tradition refers to these as retarded souls. This condition may be common, but it is not normal. The normal path towards sanctity is one of spiritual progress and a growing delight in God’s law.
The Spiritual path from slavery to freedom is well established in Catholic tradition. Growth in grace means growing facility to do God’s will. According to the council of Trent, Grace always confers the ability to avoid sin. More grace means more ability. Less ability means less grace. In trying to discern the presence of grace, we don’t measure the difficulty. We measure the facility with which someone obeys God. We cannot have certain knowledge of grace, but the love of God and delight in his ordinances are reasonably sure evidences.
Few people move in a straight line in the spiritual life, but neither are we stuck in place like Buridan’s Ass. We make progress one day and fall back another. That is why Christ has given us the sacrament of reconciliation. We sin, we are contrite, we confess, we get absolved, we do penance, and we resolve to do better. We beg God for grace. We petition the saints. When properly disposed, we go to communion. We take up our cross. We make sacrifices. Faith shows us the end and means of spiritual progress. Charity motivates us to take up the challenge. Hope inspires us that the journey can come to completion.