It is to be observed further Max., Disp. cum
Pyrrh., that freedom of will is used in several
senses, one in connection with God, another in connection with angels,
and a third in connection with men. For used in reference to God
it is to be understood in a superessential manner, and in reference to
angels it is to be taken in the sense that the election is concomitant
with the state ὡς
συντρεχούσης
τῇ ἕξει τῆς
προχειρίσεως, the choice, or decision, being synchronous with the moral
disposition., and admits of
the interposition of no interval of time at all: for while the
angel possesses free-will by nature, he uses it without let or
hindrance, having neither antipathy on the part of the body to overcome
nor any assailant. Again, used in reference to men, it is to be
taken in the sense that the state is considered to be anterior in time
to the election. For man is free and has free-will by nature, but
he has also the assault of the devil to impede him and the motion of
the body: and thus through the assault and the weight of the
body, election comes to be later than the state.