Even so shineth the light of Christ on all men abundantly,
imparting to us of his lustre. But every man shareth thereof in
proportion to his desire and zeal. For the Sun of righteousness
disappointeth none of them that would fix their gaze on him, yet
doth he not compel those who willingly choose darkness; but every
man, so long as he is in this present life, is committed to his
own free will and choice."

Ioasaph asked, "What is free will and what is choice?" The elder
answered, "Free will is the willing of a reasonable soul, moving
without hindrance toward whatever it wisheth, whether to virtue
or to vice, the soul being thus constituted by the Creator. Free
will again is the sovran motion of an intelligent soul. Choice
is desire accompanied by deliberation, or deliberation
accompanied by desire for things that lie in our power; for in
choosing we desire that which we have deliberately preferred.
Deliberation is a motion towards enquiry about actions possible
to us; a man deliberateth whether he ought to pursue an object or
no. Then he judgeth which is the better, and so ariseth
judgement. Then he is inclined towards it, and loveth that which
was so judged by the deliberative faculty, and this is called
resolve; for, if he judge a thing, and yet be not inclined toward
the thing that he hath judged, and love it not, it is not called
resolve. Then, after inclination toward it, there ariseth choice
or rather selection. For choice is to choose one or other of two
things in view, and to select this rather than that. And it is
manifest that choice is deliberation plus discrimination, and
this from the very etymology. For that which is the `object of
choice' is the thing chosen before the other thing. And no man
preferreth a thing without deliberation, nor makeeth a choice