Freedom and the Gospel

Λέγουσι γὰρ δύνασθαι τὸν Θεὸν, εἴπερ ἐβούλετο, καὶ τοὺς ἀντιτύπως ἔχοντας ἀναγκαστικῶς ἐφελκύσασθαι πρὸς τὴν παραδοχὴν τοῦ κηρύγματος. Ποῦ τοίνυν ἐν τούτοις τὸ αὐτεξούσιον; Ποῦ δὲ τῶν κατορθούντων ὁ ἔπαινος; Μόνων γὰρ τῶν ἀψύχων ἤ τῶν ἀλόγων ἐστὶ τῷ ἀλλοτρίῳ βουλήματι πρὸς τὸ δοκοῦν περιάγεσθαι. Ἡ δὲ λογική τε καὶ νοερὰ φύσις, ἐὰν τὸ κατ' ἐξουσίαν ἀπόθηται, καὶ τὴν χάριν τοῦ νοεροῦ συναπώλεσεν. Εἰς τί γὰρ χρήσεται τῇ διανοίᾳ τῆς τοῦ προαιρεῖσθαί τι τῶν κατὰ γνώμην ἐξουσίας ἐφ' ἑτέρω κειμένης; Εἰ δὲ ἄπρακτος ἡ προαίρεσις μένοι, ἠφάνισται κατ' ἀνάγκην ἡ ἀρετὴ, τῇ ἀκινησίᾳ τῆς προαιρέσεως ἐμποδισθεῖσα· ἀρετῆς δὲ μὴ οὔσης, ὁ βίος ἠτίμωται, καὶ καθ' εἰμαρμένην χωρεῖ ὁ λόγος, ἀφῄρηται τῶν κατορθούντων ὁ ἔπαινος· ἀνίκητος ἡ ἁμαρτία, ἄκριτος ἡ κατὰ τὸν βίον διαφορά. Τίς γὰρ ἄν ἔτι κατὰ τὸ εὔλογον ἢ διαβάλλοι τὸν ἀκόλαστον, ἢ ἐπαινοίη τὸν σώφρονα; Ταύτης κατὰ τὸ πρόχειρον οὔσης ἐκάστῳ τῆς ἀποκρίσεως, τὸ μηδὲν ἐφ' ἡμῖν τῶν κατὰ γνώμην εἶναι, δυναστείᾳ δὲ κρείττονι τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας προαιρέσεις πρὸς τὸ τῷ κρατοῦνται δοκοῦν περιάγεσθαι. Οὐκοῦν οὐ τῆς ἀγαθότητος τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ ἔγκλημα, τὸ μὴ πᾶσιν ἐγγενέσθαι τὴν πίστιν, ἀλλὰ τῆς διαθέσεως τῶν δεχομένων τὸ κήρυγμα. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Λόγος Κατήχητικος Ὁ Μέγας, Κεφαλ. ΛΑ',

They say that God was able, if He had so wished, to forcibly draw those who resisted to the acceptance of the preaching. And where then would have been their free will? Where praise for improvement? Only things soulless or irrational may be directed according the purpose of another. But the rational and intelligent nature, if it sets aside its freedom, at the same time it loses the gift of intellect. For upon what does he employ his mind, if the freedom of choosing anything according to his inclination lies with another? But then, if choosing is inactive on account of necessity virtue vanishes, since it is shackled by the inertness of the will; and if virtue does not exist, life loses its value, reason moves in accordance with fate, the praise of the righteous is gone, sin is unconquerable, and the difference between lives impossible to judge. For who, then, could with good reason denounce intemperance or praise sobriety? Every one would have the ready answer that nothing of all the things we are inclined to is in our  power but that by some superior  influence human wills are led to the purpose of the one who has power over them. So it is not the goodness of God that is to be questioned when the Faith is not born in all, but rather the state of those who receive the preaching. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, The Great Catechism, Chap 31