Some criticize Reformed Theology because of its supposed suppression of human freedom. And on occasion, some Reformed thinkers do give that impression. Yet the evidence of reformation era writings tells a different story.
The Reformers believed in genuine freedom of choice. Yet like their forebears, freedom for them meant that one can freely do according to nature and according to potency. A human cannot fly (nature). And sometimes one person coerces another person to act (since this person has no potency to resist).
While the Reformed tradition has diverse expressions on this matter, the neat modern categories of libertarianism, determinism, and compatibilism all