THEOLOGY OF THE BODY

CHAPTER FIVE –TRUTH AND FREEDOM

Chapter Objectives• To define true freedom• To compare and contrast authentic

freedom with the cultural view of freedom• To explore why freedom must be

connected to truth

Key Concepts• Man is created for freedom: the ability to

desire and choose the good• Free will is the capacity to choose one’s

own deeds, making the individual the author of his own acts

• “Freedom from the law” is the result of bringing our hearts into such pure conformity with God’s law that we no longer desire to break it

FREEDOM• Freedom: is the ability

to desire and to choose the good

• Common understanding of freedom is the idea of “doing whatever, whenever” more choices = greater freedom

• Real freedom comes from recognizing the truth and choosing to live in it, through Christ

AUTHENTIC FREEDOM• External constraints:

the laws of God or society that protect us from abusing our free will and hurting ourselves or others

• Internal constraints: distractions or disordered desires within us that steer us away from choosing the good

• To experience real freedom, we must remember two very important facts: who we are and how we are called to live

• Freedom always has certain truths intimately tied to it, and without these truths, we lose our freedom and our purpose

• Freedom exists for the sake of love

FREE WILL• Free will: the gift given

to us by God to choose between good and evil. This God-given ability allows us to be the authors of our own choices, thus allowing us to determine our own destiny

WHAT IS TRUTH?• Objective Truth: reality as

it is, apart from what we think or feel about it, something that we cannot change or decide for ourselves

• Morality is NOT something that is subjective

• God created us to choose between good and evil, not to determine what they are