Conceptions of God’s Will and Human Freedom in Spiritual Discernment

Conceptions of God’s Will and Human Freedom in Spiritual Discernment

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54855/csl.255414
Citations

Keywords:

God’s will; human freedom; spiritual discernment; providence; Ignatian discernment

Abstract

This paper critiques a common misconception of spiritual discernment: many believers treat God’s will as a pre-set option that must be “found” correctly—like picking a winning lottery ticket—thereby creating anxiety and fear of choosing wrongly. The author traces this problem to a flawed theology that over-personalizes God and imagines a deterministic “script,” which diminishes divine transcendence and sets God in competition with human freedom. The essay rearticulates freedom as a dynamic reality that comes into being through concrete choices, and it argues that God acts in the world not by canceling human causality but by sustaining and enabling it. Consequently, discernment is not merely selecting the “right” alternative but cooperating with God so that one’s vocation and destiny are formed in the present through lived freedom. In the Ignatian spirit, authentic discernment presupposes a living relationship with God and the grace of inner freedom (indifference).

Author Biography

  • Fr. Fx. Nguyen Hai Tinh, SJ, Saint Joseph Jesuit Scholasticate, Vietnam

    Fr. Francis Xavier Nguyen Hai Tinh, S.J., Director of the Saint Joseph Jesuit Scholasticate in Vietnam, is a Jesuit priest who was ordained in 2007. He holds a Doctorate in Theology (Dogmatic Theology, S.T.D.) awarded by the Pontifical Gregorian University in 2009. He currently teaches courses in dogmatic theology at the Saint Joseph Jesuit Scholasticate (Society of Jesus in Vietnam), the Vietnam Catholic Institute, the Saint Joseph Major Seminary of Saigon, the Saint Joseph Major Seminary of Hanoi, and other institutes.

References

Tad Dunne, “Models of Discernment”, trong The Way. Supplement 23 (1974), 18-26.

Karl Rahner, Foundations of Christian Faith, tr. William V. Dych (New York: Crossroad, 1987).

Downloads

Published

22-12-2025

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 4 (2025): Theology of Christianity

Section

Research Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Lm. Fx. Nguyễn Hai Tính, SJ

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository, in a journal or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.

How to Cite

Nguyen, H. T. (2025). Conceptions of God’s Will and Human Freedom in Spiritual Discernment. Catholic Science & Life, 5(4), 128-132. https://doi.org/10.54855/csl.255414