The Existence of Free Choice:
Defined Church Teaching
A central truth of divine revelation is that human persons, created in the image and likeness of God, have the power of free choice. In order to create beings to whom he could give his very own life, God created persons (angelic and human) who have the power to make or break their own lives by their own free choices. Persons are of themselves, sui iuris, i.e., in their own power or dominion. Their choices and actions are their own, not the choices and actions of others. If the Triune God’s offer of his own life and friendship is to be a gift, it must be freely received; it cannot be forced on others or settled by anything other than the free choice of the God who freely gives himself and the free choices of created persons who freely accept this gift.