Freedom

UNIT III. CALLED TO THE FULLNESS OF LIFE

LESSON A: GENUINE FREEDOM: THE PURSUIT OF THE GOOD

 

QUESTION: HOW DO I DISTINGUISH GOOD FROM EVIL?

 

Man’s Freedom

God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions. - CCC 1730

 

“Man is rational and therefore like God: he is created with free will and is master over his acts.”  - St Ireneaus

 

¨      Freedom is the power rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility.

¨      Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude. - CCC 1731

 

1.     Freedom as Expression of Dignity: God’s Image and Likeness in Man

 

¨      Freedom and Dignity:

o    Freedom is based on human dignity, rooted in being made in the image and likeness of God.

¨      Freedom Toward Goodness:

o    True freedom is directed toward good, achievable through a relationship with God and fidelity to one's dignity.

¨      Authentic Freedom:

o    Real freedom is only for the good; it's not just the ability to choose but the choice to align with goodness.

¨      Role in Creation:

o    Humans, as the pinnacle of God's creation, are meant to participate in and continue God’s good works.

¨      Moral Expectation:

o    People are expected to choose goodness in all actions, affirming their dignity and freedom.

¨      Path to Genuine Freedom:

o    Emphasizing genuine freedom helps guide people back to their dignity, which may be obscured by sin.

¨      Becoming Like God:

o    Striving to be like God aligns with becoming more fully human; this growth deepens humanity and resemblance to God.

o    The more we become human, the more we become like God.

¨      Example of True Freedom:

o    Figures like St. Mother Teresa embody this freedom through acts that reflect God’s goodness, serving as models of holiness.

 

2.     Dignity and Freedom: The Fulfillment and Manifestation of God’s Presence in Man

 

¨      God's Sovereignty Over Life: Life is a gift from God, and only God has the right to take it away.

¨      Redemption Through Christ: Christ's sacrifice cleanses humanity of sin, making people acceptable before God.

¨      Adopted Children of God: Through baptism, people become adopted children of God, and their bodies become temples of the Holy Spirit.

¨      Holiness Through God’s Presence: God’s presence in people renders them holy and sacred.

Authentic Freedom:

¨      True freedom isn’t about doing anything we want; it’s the freedom to do good and is shared within a community.

¨      Authentic freedom is grounded in truth, not in prejudice, deceit, or ignorance (CCC 1740).

 

FREEDOM FROM

¨      Freedom from everything that opposes our true self- becoming with others in community such as interior obstacles like ignorance, disordered passions, bad habits, prejudices or psychological disturbances and exterior forces such as violent force or violence.

 

Aspects of Authentic Freedom

SOURCES OF IMPEDIMENTS TO FREEDOM

¨     Biological Impediments: Include inherited disabilities or conditions and external substances like drugs.

¨     Psychological Impediments: Internal compulsions, often from the unconscious, that can limit freedom.

¨     Social Pressures: Economic, political, and cultural factors that restrict the right to freedom, reducing moral accountability.

¨     Sin: The most significant barrier to authentic freedom, representing a fundamental “slavery” from which true liberation must occur.

Freedom For

¨     Purpose of Freedom: Freedom enables growth as complete persons and children of God, sharing in the life of Christ. It is freedom founded in love.

¨     Freedom of Choice: The ability to direct one’s moral actions, choosing between good and evil. Consistently choosing good fosters growth as loving, free persons (Veritatis Splendor 65-68).

¨     Fundamental Freedom: A deeper level of freedom achieved as one overcomes internal and external obstacles, leading to mature, authentic freedom. This growth is a gradual process and requires commitment.

Key Principles of Freedom and Dignity

¨     Respect for Others: Freedom involves treating others with respect, acknowledging God's presence in everyone.

¨     Equality in Dignity: All people are equal before God due to their inherent dignity.

¨     Creation’s Foundation: Creation exists because of God’s boundless, unwavering love.

¨     Response to God’s Love: Humanity’s response to God’s love should be one of faithfulness.

¨     Dignity as the Basis for Freedom: True freedom is exercised by recognizing and honoring one’s own and others’ dignity.

 

Primacy of the Good: In true freedom, choosing the good should always come first.

Personal Responsibility: A person must remain conscious that they are solely accountable for all their actions.

Path to Authentic Freedom:

¨     Intrinsic Goodness: Human goodness is expressed through free will and intellect.

¨     Alignment with God: Choosing the good is possible only when one is connected to God and faithful to their dignity.

¨     Self-Perfection and Salvation: By choosing the good, individuals grow toward self-perfection and Christ’s promised salvation.

¨     Freedom as Fidelity to Dignity: Freedom is the ability to remain true to one’s dignity.

¨     God-like Actions: Actions such as love, mercy, compassion, and forgiveness embody true freedom.

¨     Freedom to Choose Good: Freedom is essentially the ability to choose the good.

¨     Growth in Freedom: “The more we choose the good, the freer we become.”

Saint Augustine’s View on Freedom:

¨     Beginning of Freedom: True freedom begins with avoiding major sins (e.g., murder, theft, fraud). This is the start of freedom, but not yet perfect freedom (Veritatis Splendor 13).

 

The beginning of freedom, Saint Augustine writes, is:

 

”To be free from crimes...such as murder, adultery, fornication, theft, fraud, sacrilege and so forth. When once one is without these crimes (and every Christian should be without them), one begins to lift up one's head towards freedom. But this is only the beginning of freedom, not perfect freedom..." VS, 13

 

3.     FREEDOM AND LAW

¨     Biblical Command on Freedom and Law: God instructed Adam and Eve not to eat from the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Genesis 2:16-17).

¨     Freedom with Boundaries: The command highlights that freedom exists within the boundaries set by God.

¨     Consequences of Choice: Disobedience to this law would lead to death, illustrating the serious consequences of choosing against God’s law (Veritatis Splendor 35).

¨     Moral Implication: This passage emphasizes that true freedom involves adherence to divine law, with moral responsibility for the choices made.

 

a.     The Imagery of Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil:

¨     Authority Over Morality: Only God, not humans, has the authority to define good and evil.

¨     Scope of Human Freedom: Humans are free and can understand and follow God’s commands, with vast freedom to act within God’s creation.

¨     Limits of Freedom: True freedom stops at the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil," signifying that freedom includes accepting God's moral law for complete fulfillment.

Role of God’s Law

¨     Divine Command for Good: God, who is perfectly good, provides commandments out of love, guiding humans to what is truly good.

¨     Law as Protector of Freedom: God’s law doesn’t restrict freedom; instead, it safeguards and enhances it.

Modern Views on Freedom and Law

¨     Conflicts in Ethics: Some modern ethical views suggest a conflict between freedom and law, proposing that individuals or groups should decide what is good or evil.

¨     Freedom as Absolute Authority: These views suggest that freedom could override truth, implying that moral values could be created by human autonomy rather than rooted in universal truth.

Response from the Church

¨     Dialogue with Modern Culture: Following the Second Vatican Council, there is a call to engage with modern perspectives, highlighting that moral laws are rational, universally understandable, and rooted in natural moral law.

¨     Challenges to Divine Wisdom: Some viewpoints dismiss the need for Divine Wisdom and Revelation in understanding moral truths, asserting human reason’s complete sovereignty over moral law.

¨     Human Morality Without God: These views propose that moral laws are entirely human constructs, disregarding God as the ultimate source of the natural moral law.

¨     Church’s Teaching: According to Sacred Scripture and Church tradition, natural moral law originates from God. Humans participate in this eternal law through reason, but it is not for them to create or change.

 

b.      God left man in the power of his own counsel" (Sir 15:14)

  • God's Will for Man’s Freedom: God desires man to seek Him freely, so that by choosing to align with God, humans achieve their full potential and blessed perfection.

  • Dominion and Responsibility: God entrusted humans with dominion over the earth, a task that requires freedom used in obedience to God’s command (“Fill the earth and subdue it” - Gen 1:28).

  • Human Autonomy: Each person and the human community have a rightful autonomy in discovering, utilizing, and ordering the created world according to their own laws and values.

Freedom and Moral Growth

  • Self-Perfection: Humans are called to build their moral perfection by freely choosing good acts, thereby reflecting God’s image more fully.

  • Strengthening God’s Likeness: By performing morally good actions, a person strengthens their likeness to God and grows in character.

Autonomy and Moral Law

  • Source of Moral Law: The moral law originates from God, with humans participating in it through natural reason, which is derived from divine wisdom.

  • True Autonomy vs. False Autonomy: True autonomy doesn’t mean creating moral laws independently of God; instead, it means living by the moral law that is given by God and guided by divine wisdom.

  • Rejection of Relative Morality: Autonomy that claims freedom to create moral norms based on social or cultural changes contradicts the Church’s teaching on human truth.

Freedom and Obedience to God’s Law

  • Intersection of Freedom and Divine Law: True freedom involves willingly obeying God’s law, showing that human freedom and divine law are complementary rather than opposing.

  • God’s Command as Guidance: God’s command (e.g., not eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) clarifies that moral knowledge isn’t originally human; humans participate in it through natural reason and Divine Revelation.

  • Obedience as True Freedom: Obeying God’s law isn’t an imposition on freedom but a path to true freedom, aligning human action with God’s benevolent wisdom.

 

Human Freedom

¨     The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just.

The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to the “slavery of sin”.  – CCC 1733

 

Man’s freedom is limited and fallible...by refusing God’s plan of love, he deceived himself and became a slave to sin. – CCC 1739

 

“By deviating from the moral law man violates his own freedom, becomes imprisoned within himself, disrupts neighborly fellowship, and rebels against divine truth.”

– CCC 1740

 

“I am the way, the truth and the life.” - (John 14:6)

 “And the truth shall set you free...” - (John 8:32)

 “For freedom Christ has set us free.” - (Gal. 5:1)