The Great Twenty-First Century Lie: Freedom is for Freedom's Sake

In Jesus Christ, man's destiny along with the true purpose of human freedom is unveiled

"Jesus Christ meets the man of every age, including our own, with the same words: 'You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.' These words contain both a fundamental requirement and a warning: the requirement of an honest relationship with regard to truth as a condition for authentic freedom, and the warning to avoid every kind of illusory freedom, every superficial unilateral freedom, every freedom that fails to enter into the whole truth about man and the world" -- John Paul II

GLADE PARK, CO (Catholic Online) -- The introduction in Blessed John Paul IIs encyclical letter Varitatis splendor, The Splendor of Truth, opens with these beautiful words: "Called to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, 'the true light that enlightens everyone' (Jn 1:9), people become 'light in the Lord' and 'children of light' (Eph 5:8), and are made holy by 'obedience to the truth'" (1 Pet 1:22).

Such sublime words should resonate deeply in the hearts of all, whether Catholic or other Christian or simply men and women of good will, for each of us is created with an inherent desire to become a child of light, that we might be forever immersed in that infinitely nourishing Light of Love: God. Yet how is this accomplished?

That question is, of course, answered by the Catholic Church: Jesus Christ assumed human nature to save us, to give us life, and to make us partakers of God's divine nature: "For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God" (CCC 460). We are to enter into communion with the Word: we are to share in the mystery of Christ's own life.

Further, in Christ man's being is unveiled and self-disclosed: in the fullness of time, God Incarnate appeared on Earth, born of the sweet Virgin Mary, as the Person of Jesus Christ, as the perfect image of the invisible Father. Since the Son of God has assumed human flesh to himself, lived and breathed as true man while yet remaining true God, all that can be known and said about man, who and what man is and is to become, about his use of freedom and about his destiny, is revealed par excellence in Jesus the Christ.

Our Savior said of himself, "I am the way and the truth and the life" (Jn. 14:6). It is in Christ that man is given life. Therefore the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches the faithful: "In reality it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear" (359).

The Compendium Of The Social Doctrine Of The Church explains that "Jesus' followers are called to live like him and, after his Passover of death and resurrection, to live also in him and by him, thanks to the superabundant gift of the Holy Spirit, the Consoler, who internalizes Christ's own style of life in human hearts" (29).

Freedom Is Not For Freedom's Sake

While, admittedly, many fail through their own fault to recognize their ultimate human calling, which is an invitation in freedom to share in God's life, we are nevertheless invited to be made holy by obedience to the truth. And it is more than simply an invitation; for, in his divine wisdom, God created man as a rational and free being who can choose either good or evil and who therefore is the "father of his own being" (CSDC 135).

Those who choose light and truth become what they choose; those who choose darkness and untruth become what they themselves father by choice. A person who lies becomes a liar; a person who murders becomes a murderer. A person who steals is a thief. A person who views religion carelessly, who looks with indifference upon his or her grave duty to worship God, is an indifferentist. Thus the power of freedom to shape our character and our being is self-evident.

Our life or lack of it as children of God hinges on our faith in Christ and obedience to the truth. Further, obedience involves free choice and free choice is the principle of morality. As John Paul II explained, there is an "intrinsic and unbreakable bond between faith and morality" (VS 4). We might believe in Jesus, even pray to him, but if we fail to embrace true Christian discipleship through vincible ignorance or rejection of the Decalogue and the Church's moral precepts, then we are no follower of the Savior of humankind.

Nevertheless, as Blessed John Paul II tells us, obedience to the truth is not always easy: "As a result of that mysterious original sin, committed at the prompting of Satan, the one who is 'a liar and the father of lies' (Jn 8:44), man is constantly tempted to turn his gaze away from the living and true God in order to direct it towards idols (cf. 1 Thes 1:9), exchanging 'the truth about God for a lie' (Rom 1:25). Man's capacity to know the truth is also darkened, and his will to submit to it is weakened. Thus, giving himself over to relativism and scepticism (cf. Jn 18:38), he goes off in search of an illusory freedom apart from truth itself" (Veritatis splendor 1).

The illusory freedom of which John Paul II speaks occurs when the creature attempts to raise itself above the Creator; when man tragically asserts his own freedom over and above God's divine law and labors to install himself as a god -- an illusory position based on a false premiss and which is a grievous lie against the very nature and existence of man.

The Compendium Of The Social Doctrine Of The Church, in speaking of the sin of prideful disobedience in the Garden, explains that "when man stretches out his hand to the tree of life," he "tries to break through his limits as a creature, challenging God, his sole Lord and the source of his life" (115). It is thus patently insane for men to think that they can indeed challenge God. Yet this is precisely what occurs when it is believed that freedom exists for freedom's sake, that man can arbitrarily choose this or that, good or evil, according to his own subjective wishes.

"God created man in his image and established him in his friendship. A spiritual creature, man can live this friendship only in free submission to God. . . . The 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil' symbolically evokes the insurmountable limits that man, being a creature, must freely recognize and respect with trust. Man is dependent on his Creator, and subject to the laws of creation and to the moral norms that govern the use of freedom" (CCC 396).

The Gift of Freedom: Necessary For Love

Society has often witnessed what might be described as man's heinous and diabolical uses of freedom: the intentional killing of 50 million unborn children in under four decades of American history; untold numbers of human embryos destroyed under the banner of unrealized yet so-called potential medical breakthroughs; the Holocaust and the murder of 6 million Jews; and the millions of Christians martyred in the twentieth century alone. This, of course, is the short list.

Given the possible yet often terrible consequences of God's gift of freedom to man, one might be led to ask, why did God give to man such a gift? In a word: Love. In order for man to love God, which is the highest use of freedom, it is necessary that he be granted the dangerous ability to choose himself over God -- an act which ends in destruction.

"Man can turn to good only in freedom, which God has given to him as one of the highest signs of his image: For God has willed that man remain 'under the control of his own decisions' (Sir 15:14), so that he can seek his Creator spontaneously, and come freely to utter and blissful perfection through loyalty to Him. Hence man's dignity demands that he act according to a knowing and free choice that is personally motivated and prompted from within, neither under blind internal impulse nor by mere external pressure" (CSDC 135).

Jesus Christ: "I Am the Way and The Truth and The Life"

When the rich young man asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, our Savior emphasizes the importance of keeping the commandments, detachment from material possessions and the necessity of providing for the poor. Then, Jesus invites the young man to perfection and to the highest calling: "Come, follow me" (see Mt. 19:16 ff.).

"It is Jesus himself who takes the initiative and calls people to follow him," teaches Blessed John Paul II. ". . . [it is] clear that every believer is called to be a follower of Christ (cf. Acts 6:1). Following Christ is thus the essential and primordial foundation of Christian morality: just as the people of Israel followed God who led them through the desert towards the Promised Land (cf. Ex 13:21), so every disciple must follow Jesus, towards whom he is drawn by the Father himself (cf. Jn 6:44).

"This is not a matter only of disposing oneself to hear a teaching and obediently accepting a commandment. More radically, it involves holding fast to the very person of Jesus, partaking of his life and his destiny, sharing in his free and loving obedience to the will of the Father. By responding in faith and following the one who is Incarnate Wisdom, the disciple of Jesus truly becomes a disciple of God (cf. Jn 6:45).

"Jesus is indeed the light of the world, the light of life (cf. Jn 8:12). He is the shepherd who leads his sheep and feeds them (cf. Jn 10:11-16); he is the way, and the truth, and the life (cf. Jn 14:6). It is Jesus who leads to the Father, so much so that to see him, the Son, is to see the Father (cf. Jn 14:6-10). And thus to imitate the Son, "the image of the invisible God" (Col 1:15), means to imitate the Father" (VS 19).

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F. K. Bartels is a Catholic writer who knows his Catholic Faith is one of the greatest gifts a man could ever receive. He is a contributing writer for Catholic Online. Visit him also at catholicpathways.com

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