"Grace and Free Will: Comparing Thomisic Views" by Robert Reckamp
 

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Publication Date

2025

Document Type

Poster

Degree Type

Undergraduate

Department

Philosophy

Mentor

Dr. Daniel Breyer

Mentor Department

Philosophy

Abstract

Many struggle to reconcile our free will with God’s providence over everything. Understanding sufficient and efficacious grace lets us accept both a meaningful sense of free will and God’s omnipotence and omniscience. In this presentation, I will lay out the Thomistic principles of grace and compare two different interpretations of them, the first by Fr. Reginald Garrigou- Lagrange and the second by Fr. Francisco Marin-Sola. Grace is defined by the Catechism of the Catholic Church as “favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life” (CCC 1996). Garrigou-Lagrange and Marin-Sola disagree on what sufficient grace is and what we can do by the aid of sufficient grace. Lagrange thinks that sufficient grace gives us the real power to do a good act, but that we cannot actually do any good act without the aid of efficacious grace. On the other hand, Marin-Sola thinks that sufficient grace really gives us an act, but an imperfect one. Sufficient grace begins the good action in us, but we may resist it of our own free will and so prevent the good action. Sola also thinks we can do some easy good works with sufficient grace only, such as a quick prayer. To Marin-Sola, efficacious grace differs from sufficient grace in that it is irresistible and infallible, necessary for completing difficult good works, while sufficient grace is still efficacious for the beginning of the action, but not for the perfection of the work, which requires efficacious grace that will be provided by God if the sufficient grace is not resisted. I argue that Marin-Sola's view better protects a strong sense of free will while remaining consonant with the Thomistic principles. I first lay out the relevant principles that are accepted by all Thomists. I next outline Garrigou-Lagrange’s view on sufficient grace, then Marin-Sola’s. Finally, I argue why Marin-Sola’s view better protects free will and the real sufficiency of sufficient grace.

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