"It is unlikely that this grace is equal to the grace given to those found within the visible Church - by the very presence and reality of the sacraments that are available."
Are saying that there are different "grades" of God's grace? I think we are in the realm of the Barlaam/+Gregory Palamas controversy, a theological difference between the Latin Church and all the other particular churches within The Church, so far as I know. It has far reaching consequences as is clear from your exchange with FK on what you apparently see as the inequality of God "knocking" on people's hearts. That in turn bespeaks a certain favoritism on God's part, does it not? And does not that have fundamental consequences for our understanding of theosis?
"Men sin. Because men have free will, they are the ones who will be punished for their free will choices. Satan certainly tempts men and bends us to do things we know are not God's will. I am not saying that Satan does not lead us into temptation. But WE are the one's ultimately responsible for failing the Lord - WE are the one's who will be judged upon our death. IF we were not the responsible agent for sin, then God would not judge us - we are merely puppets - as Luther said, we are beasts, then, and either the devil or God rides us around."
You'll find that what you said was:
"Thus, MAN is the operating agent and cause of evil."
It is indeed man who commits sin, who "misses the mark" and all creation groans under the weight of that sin, but "evil" is a quite different thing. Confusing the results of evil, sin, and evil which comes from and is given concrete form in the Devil is a dangerous dillusion.
"Evil is not to be imputed to the essence of created beings, but to their erroneous and mindless motivation." +Maximos the Confessor
"Inside us evil is at work suggesting unworthy inclinations. However, it is not in us in the same way as, to take as an example, water mixes with wine. Evil is in us without being mixed with good. We are a field in which wheat and weeds are growing separately. We are a house in which there is a thief, but also the owner. We are a spring which rises from the middle of the mud, but pours out pure water. All the same, it is enough to stir up the mud and the spring is fouled. It is the same with the soul. If the evil is spread, it forms a unity with the soul and makes it dirty. With our consent, evil is united with the soul; they become accomplices. Yet there comes a moment when the soul can free itself and remain separate again: in repentance, contrition, prayer, recourse to God. The soul could not benefit from these habits if it were always sunk in evil. It is like a marriage. A woman is united with a man and they become one flesh. But when one of them dies, the other is left alone. But union with the Holy Spirit is complete. So, let us become a single spirit with Him. Let us be wholly absorbed by grace." +Macarius the Great Homily XVI
The parable of the Talents makes it clear that God gives different "amounts" of graces to different people to fulfill His particular desires and will within our human experience. God gives different men the grace to be priests, for example. That is a higher calling and a higher "amount" of grace than someone like myself would receive. Catholics believe that God predestines the elect - which may imply that God does give particular men and women more grace to His chosen people.
"Evil is not to be imputed to the essence of created beings, but to their erroneous and mindless motivation." +Maximos the Confessor
I suppose I was looking at evil being caused by men in a different sense then you are here. We consider evil as a lack of good - such as darkness being a lack of light. Certainly, Satan is evil - he lacks goodness. However, to call evil a thing sets up a duality that Eastern religions are quite famous for. As far as I know, we don't consider evil as a force that is something in existence within its own right, but is a lack of goodness. Thus, with this in mind, we view man, who sins, as a "creator" of evil in the sense that a man has committed an evil act - something that God did not do and something that Satan did not do (although he may have been instrumental in bringing it about). Man is a "secondary cause" of good and evil.
Brother in Christ