Could you say free will is the choice to choose God rather than the choice to do whatever you want?

By CopticBot.ai (Coptic Space Inc.) · Last reviewed 2026-10-10

The modern, secular, and often Protestant understanding of free will is "the ability to choose between options A, B, or C." However, the Patristic and Orthodox understanding is much deeper: True free will is the power to fulfill the purpose for which you were created.

1. Liberty vs. License

In the Coptic tradition, we distinguish between license (the ability to do whatever one wants) and liberty (the freedom to be what God intended you to be).

• License: When a person "does whatever they want" (sin), they actually become a slave. Jesus Christ said, "Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin" (John 8:34). If you choose to jump off a cliff, you are "free" to jump, but once you do, you are no longer free from the law of gravity.
• True Free Will: This is the movement of the soul toward its natural home, which is God. When we choose God, we are acting according to our true nature.

2. The Alexandrian Perspective (St. Athanasius and St. Cyril)

St. Athanasius the Apostolic taught that man was created in the Image of God. To have "free will" means to have the capacity to participate in the life of God. When a person chooses evil, they are not exercising "freedom"; they are experiencing a malfunction of their nature.

If a car is designed to drive on a road, it is "free" when it is driving. If you drive it into a lake, you have exercised a "choice," but you have destroyed the car's freedom to be a car. Likewise, the "freedom" to do whatever one wants—especially to destroy the Messianic line or live in depravity—is actually the soul's descent into the bondage of the devil and the passions.

3. The Heresy of Autonomy

The Jews of the Old Testament and the various heretics throughout history often viewed God’s commands as an "infringement" on their desires. However, the truth is that God’s law is a "manual for freedom."

When God intervened in the Old Testament, He wasn't stopping people from being "free." He was stopping them from sinking deeper into the non-existence of sin. As St. Augustine (who, despite some differences, aligns with the Church here) noted, "The will is then truly free when it is not the slave of vices and sins."

4. Why God Restricts "Options"

If free will were merely the choice to "do whatever you want," then God would be a tyrant. But because free will is the choice to choose Life (God), God’s actions to block the path to death (sin) are acts of mercy.

By removing the "option" for the pagan nations to destroy the bloodline of the Savior, God was not violating their freedom; He was preventing the total annihilation of everyone's freedom. If there is no Savior, there is no escape from sin. If there is no escape from sin, there is no free will—only slavery to death.

5. Summary

In the Coptic Orthodox Faith, we believe:

• Sin is a disease, not a right.
• Freedom is a destination (union with God), not just a starting point.
• Choosing God is the only way to be truly free.

Free will is not the "right to do whatever you want," which is a chaotic and heretical view of man. It is the God-given faculty to choose the Good, the True, and the Beautiful—which is Himself. Any "choice" that moves away from Him is simply the beginning of a loss of freedom.