Theology- Freedom Unit

Freedom for Wadell, Dante, & Rahner

• Wadell: freedom is dangerous; “only freedom as attached to the good”

• Dante: freedom is eternal

• Rahner: freedom is difficult

freedom

condition for the possibility of ethics; human ability of self-determination

negative freedom

space to act; opportunity (may I?)

power to act; ability (can I?)

setbacks

• structural

• self-sin, vice: patterns of sin; vice

development

we are born with a capacity \[of freedom\] that can develop into a virtue

AAA definitions of virtue

• Aristotle: disposition to behave in the right way

• Augustine: perfect love of God

• Aquinas: a good, operative habit

theological virtues

faith, hope, charity

cardinal virtues

prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance

faith

believing in what you don’t see

hope

trust in divine assistence for obtaining happiness

charity

friendship of the human person for God

prudence

relationship with our minds; right reason for things to be done

justice

relationship with other people; render unto each their due

temperance

relationship with good that surrounds us; reasonable pursuit of legitimate bodily goods

* the mean between excess & deficiency

fortitude

deals with our internal state; courage, balance between being a coward & being stupid; remaining steadfast in the face. of fear

models of freedom

Ita Ford, Welles Crowther, Thomas Merton

freedom according to IF, WC, TM

• Ita Ford: freedom is finding your meaning in life

• Welles Crowther: freedom is built up throughout your life; spontaneity

• Thomas Merton: freedom knowing & discovering yourself & requires sacrifice

continence

when you know the right thing, struggle to do it but end up doing it

incontinence

when you know the right thing but don’t do it

vice

bad operative habit

spontineity

“the fruit of being single-hearted”

* what you love determines your decisions

Rahner’s freedom

• transcendental: ever-present, unthematic, unfolding, yes or no to God

• Categorical: thematic, concrete choices that embody (without full capturing) the transcendental

God & freedom

• Ground, source, & goal

• Freedom only as ability to say yes to the very source of our freedom

Welles Crowther

• “What would you do with the last hour of your life?”

• Wears red bandana, went to BC, #19 lax, wanted to be a firefighter, from Nyack, working in twin towers, on 9/11 helped people get out & kept going back up to help more

Wallace\`

• Atheism is not real b/c everyone believes in something; same experience can mean 2 different things based on their own beliefs, blind certainty, no such thing as not worshipping, will eat you alive

• Freedom: not a virtue, freedom of choosing-> we get to decide how we see it, attention, awareness, discipline, freedom of choice

• Education: learning how to exercise control over what you think, teaching how to think isn’t the capacity to think, but the choice of what to think about, how to keep from going through your life dead

• Talks about: boring day-in day-out routine of life, work of choosing, I am the center of the universe (ex: he’s in MY way)

Freedom for Merton

True freedom is openness, availability, and a capacity for gifts

Education for Merton

Education is at the core of teaching us who we are and discovering our true selves, which opens up to a life of freedom