Freedom, Virtue, and Transformation
Central thesis
God created humanity not merely to obey, but to freely become people who know, choose, and love the good.
Gathering Scripture, the Fathers, and Church teaching to consider how freedom, grace, and virtue form spiritual maturity.
How this note is held
These notes distinguish source, reception, and reflection. They may be revised as further Scripture, patristic writing, and Church teaching are read.
References
Scripture
Early Church Fathers
- John of Damascus — Exposition of the Orthodox Faith
- John Cassian — Conferences
Church Teaching
- Catechism of the Catholic Church 1803-1845
Further Reading
- The Life of Moses
- Conferences
- Summa Theologiae I-II, Questions 49-70
God then made man without evil, upright, virtuous, free from pain and care, glorified with every virtue, adorned with all that is good, like a sort of second microcosm within the great world, another angel capable of worship, compound, surveying the visible creation and initiated into the mysteries of the realm of thought,
St John Damascus, Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Chapter 12
This passage made me think back to the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve. Back then, before sin entered the world, before we misused our freedom after being tempted to be like God, we had all that is good. Even now and thinking how Jesus said that we should be like little children, I see something of that goodness and purity reflected in them too.
It made me wonder whether growing out of childhood innocence can sometimes resemble the Fall - not because each person repeats original sin, but because as our freedom and self-awareness develop, we begin consciously choosing between the good placed before us and the desires that pull us away from it.
But God made him by nature sinless, and endowed him with free will. By sinless, I mean not that sin could find no place in him (for that is the case with Deity alone), but that sin is the result of the free volition he enjoys rather than an integral part of his nature; that is to say, he has the power to continue and go forward in the path of goodness, by co-operating with the divine grace, and likewise to turn from good and take to wickedness, for God has conceded this by conferring freedom of will upon him. For there is no virtue in what is the result of mere force.
St John Damascus, Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Chapter 12
To pick up from the previous note, although our nature is now wounded by sin, it remains fundamentally God’s good creation, and our freedom has not been destroyed. God gives us reason and conscience through which we can recognise the good. He gives us freedom so that we can genuinely choose it. And He gives us grace so that our wounded freedom can be healed, strengthened and drawn back to Him.
I also love the answer to the question: “Why didn’t God simply made us obedient and remove free will?” Because, as John says, “there is no virtue in what is the result of mere force.”
Virtue thus, seems to be a very important concept, but what is Virtue? The Catechism of the Catholic Church says,
“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worth of praise, think about these things.”
A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself. The virtuous person tends towards the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions.
The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God
Cathecism of the Catholic Church, 1803