Scholarly record
VALENCES OF FREEDOM IN PHILOSOPHY AND CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY
Abstract
The concept of freedom has been understood differently in antiquity. Thus, in the classical Greek world, freedom belongs only to a few individuals. In Athens, only free citizens were considered truly free and not slaves and foreigners. Linguistic history of the word "freedom" demonstrates its origin in the society of slave owners. In such society only the master is free, slaves, women and children, over which he reigns are without freedom. Over time, every ideology claimed that defends and promotes freedom, which, however, they understand completely different one by each other. A classic conservative sense of freedom differs from that of a traditional liberal, for example. Eastern Christianity claims that God's absolute freedom belongs to Him absolutely, on Which depend all, without Himself depend on something, God Himself restrict His freedom to His "absolutes" created beings. As being "in the image and likeness" of absolute and uncreated God, man is called to partake of absolute freedom, which is itself God's freedom. The only difference of human freedom to the divine is that first there isn`t by nature, but by participation in divine freedom. Condition of participation in this freedom is communion with God, which is achieved by keeping the commandments. Otherwise, by transgressing commandments, man break his communion with God and subject to decay and death and stop to see God as a Father who loves him and builds gods who mastered him. One of the concepts through we characterize the modern world is undoubtedly the freedom. The original freedom, which is essential to man was perverted by forefathers sin. Nowadays man has become a slave of sin, of falsehood and illusion. However, the original freedom of the human being was not totally canceled. Contemporary secularized man feels God as an enemy of freedom. Thus, in hegeliano-marxist dialectics we have the report between Master and slave; Freud talks about the complex of "sadistic father" which incite to patricide, while for Nietzsche, God is " the celestial Spy" whose view hinders; moreover, Proudhon said that "God is the evil " and the atheist syllogism on the relationship between freedom and God spoken by Bakunin and resumed by the existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre is: " If God exists, I am not free; I am free, so God does doesn`t exist". Therefore, today, human freedom exists, but the notion of freedom being misunderstood, the ideal of freedom toward man aspires is not the revealed one, but one invented by man. In the following lines I will try to present the differences between what has meant the concept of freedom, over time, in the various philosophical currents and what represents the concept of Christian freedom.
Publication Impact Profile
- Captures
- Mendeley - Readers: 2
Publication details
ReferencesPending
Structured references will appear here after the reference import pass. The count is preserved now so the scholarly record is not incomplete.
View or Download full articleAccess options
SWS access login
Login as SWS Scientific CommitteeLogin as SWS Scientific PartnerLogin as SWS AuthorAuthors and approved SWS contributors will read and export their own linked papers after identity matching by SWS profile, email and SGEM GlobalID.
For librarian assistance: [email protected]
Purchase Instant Access
- Article can be downloaded after successful payment.
- Article may be used according to SWS library access terms.
- Article cannot be redistributed.
