Question Title | Posted By | Question Date |
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Freedom of the soul as the Image of God in us | maria | Sunday, September 27, 2009 |
Question: Happened to read a good article on what true freedom is - for God , from God and how freedom is possibly our most precious gift from god and how misconceptions on what true freedom can be at the root of most of the evils in our culture . |
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Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM
Dear Maria: Let me focus on your summary:
Our Lord did not "spare" Himself from any hatred. Hatred is not possible for Him because our Lord is God and God is love itself (1 John 4:8). For a being whom is 100% love, who is actually the essence and substance of love, hatred is not possible. Hatred is purely an emotion of fallen humanity. We do not find freedom or salvation by focusing on an "image". We find freedom when we absorb into our souls the Truth:
The word "image" I think is a little confusing. What the "image of God" means is that God has granted us with a rational soul that imbues certain attributes of Himself. The rational soul gives us the ability to create, for example, and to reflect upon ourselves and on our mortality, to worship and contemplate God, and to choose good or evil. Free will is given to us so that we will choose Truth and God. It is only when we choose Truth and God that we have freedom. If we choose against Truth and God we then enslave our will, not free it. These attributes that God has given us in our rational souls are not mere images, but ontological and spiritual realities that are part of who we are as human beings created by God. We have the freedom to not hate through the inherent attributes of our rational soul, made possible by the work of Christ on the Cross who freed us from the slavery of sin, and strengthened by the Holy Spirit. There can be no true freedom without Truth, and there can be no Truth without the one true God. Those religions and the secular world who may believe they are compelled to hatred, revenge, and retribution, or that such behavior is permissible, are deeply troubled and not thinking with the mind of God nor with the inherent knowledge of right and wrong that God has imbued into the rational soul of every human being. God Bless, Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below: Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum. Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum
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