On the topic of Free Will.
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that while human free will is weakened by Original Sin, it is not destroyed and remains a real power to choose. God, who is the source of all good, acts first by offering grace, which enables the human will to cooperate with God's plan. This cooperation is essential; the will can resist grace if it decides, and it is not a passive force. The Church affirms that God predestines individuals to salvation based on His foreknowledge of their free response to grace, and that God's will is truly for the salvation of all, though some freely reject His grace. This view is often described as a middle ground between the extremes of Pelagianism (which denies the need for grace) and double predestination (which teaches God actively decides some for damnation).
In contrast, many Protestant traditions, particularly those influenced by the Reformation (like Lutheranism and Calvinism), hold a more deterministic view.
taught that the human will is in bondage to sin and cannot choose salvation without God's intervention, describing free will as a fiction in spiritual matters. similarly argued that God's grace is irresistible and that the will cannot cooperate with grace in a way that implies resistance; thus, human freedom is limited to the realm of temporal goods, not salvation. This leads to the doctrine of predestination, where God unconditionally elects some for salvation and others for damnation, a view the Catholic Church explicitly rejects as "double predestination". While some Protestant traditions, like Arminianism, affirm a more robust free will that can accept or reject grace, the dominant Reformed tradition emphasizes God's sovereignty to the point of limiting human freedom in spiritual matters.
Then what about the idea of a gap between Daniel’s 69th and 70th week?
Ribera (1590s):
The modern idea of a gap between the 69th and 70th week is often traced back to Francisco Ribera, a Spanish Jesuit priest, in the late 16th century. Ribera is credited with popularizing a futurist interpretation of the Book of Daniel (and Revelation), which saw the 70th week as still future. He argued that the Antichrist would rise at the beginning of the 70th week, and that this would be a time of great tribulation, far removed from the events of Jesus' first coming.
Ribera's interpretation was part of the Catholic response to the Protestant Reformation, and he developed his views to counter the Protestant tendency to identify the papacy with the Antichrist. By proposing a future fulfillment of Daniel 9:27, Ribera helped to shift focus away from interpreting the prophecy in the context of past events and toward a future, still-to-come fulfillment.
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that while human free will is weakened by Original Sin, it is not destroyed and remains a real power to choose. God, who is the source of all good, acts first by offering grace, which enables the human will to cooperate with God's plan. This cooperation is essential; the will can resist grace if it decides, and it is not a passive force. The Church affirms that God predestines individuals to salvation based on His foreknowledge of their free response to grace, and that God's will is truly for the salvation of all, though some freely reject His grace. This view is often described as a middle ground between the extremes of Pelagianism (which denies the need for grace) and double predestination (which teaches God actively decides some for damnation).
In contrast, many Protestant traditions, particularly those influenced by the Reformation (like Lutheranism and Calvinism), hold a more deterministic view.
taught that the human will is in bondage to sin and cannot choose salvation without God's intervention, describing free will as a fiction in spiritual matters. similarly argued that God's grace is irresistible and that the will cannot cooperate with grace in a way that implies resistance; thus, human freedom is limited to the realm of temporal goods, not salvation. This leads to the doctrine of predestination, where God unconditionally elects some for salvation and others for damnation, a view the Catholic Church explicitly rejects as "double predestination". While some Protestant traditions, like Arminianism, affirm a more robust free will that can accept or reject grace, the dominant Reformed tradition emphasizes God's sovereignty to the point of limiting human freedom in spiritual matters.
Then what about the idea of a gap between Daniel’s 69th and 70th week?
Ribera (1590s):
The modern idea of a gap between the 69th and 70th week is often traced back to Francisco Ribera, a Spanish Jesuit priest, in the late 16th century. Ribera is credited with popularizing a futurist interpretation of the Book of Daniel (and Revelation), which saw the 70th week as still future. He argued that the Antichrist would rise at the beginning of the 70th week, and that this would be a time of great tribulation, far removed from the events of Jesus' first coming.
Ribera's interpretation was part of the Catholic response to the Protestant Reformation, and he developed his views to counter the Protestant tendency to identify the papacy with the Antichrist. By proposing a future fulfillment of Daniel 9:27, Ribera helped to shift focus away from interpreting the prophecy in the context of past events and toward a future, still-to-come fulfillment.
