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FreedomandChristologyaccordingtoTheologiaeBenedictae…
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a)Therightstateofhumanafairs,themoralwell-beingoftheworld
canneverbeguaranteedsimplythroughstructuresalone,howevergood
theyare.Suchstructuresarenotonlyimportant,butnecessary;yet
theycannotandmustnotmarginalizehumanfreedom.Eventhebest
structuresfunctiononlywhenthecommunityisanimatedbyconvic-
tionscapableofmotivatingpeopletoassentfreelytothesocialorder.
Freedomrequiresconviction;convictiondoesnotexistonitsown,but
mustalwaysbegainedanewbythecommunity.
b)Sincemanalwaysremainsfreeandsincehisfreedomisalwaysfrag-
ile,thekingdomofgoodwillneverbedefinitivelyestablishedinthis
world.Anyonewhopromisesthebetterworldthatisguaranteedtolast
foreverismakingafalsepromise;heisoverlookinghumanfreedom.
Freedommustconstantlybewonoverforthecauseofgood.Freeassent
tothegoodneverexistssimplybyitself.Iftherewerestructureswhich
couldirrevocablyguaranteeadetermined—good—stateoftheworld,
man’sfreedomwouldbedenied,andhencetheywouldnotbegood
structuresatall.
[…]ahopethatdoesnotconcernmepersonallyisnotarealhope.
Ithasalsobecomeclearthatthishopeisopposedtofreedom,since
humanafairsdependineachgenerationonthefreedecisionsofthose
concerned.Ifthisfreedomweretobetakenaway,asaresultofcertain
conditionsorstructures,thenultimatelythisworldwouldnotbegood,
sinceaworldwithoutfreedomcanbynomeansbeagoodworld.15
CarefulreadingofthissectionshowsusthepowerofChristian
knowledgeandwhytheChurchofChrististhebiggestinthehistory
ofmankind,realprotectoroftherealfreedom(indeed,pseudo-protec-
torsofpseudo-freedomwerelouder).EvenifthefollowersofChrist,co-
creatorsoftheChurch,areweak,sinfulanddidnotmanagetobuild
agoodworld…pro-freedompowerofChristianityresidesinthetruth
aboutmanandtheworld,inthepurityofintentions,infreedomofnaive
realismofperceptionandunderstandingofhumannature.Butallthishas
evendeepersource:Logos,theintellectthatcomesfromGod.Intellectto
15BeNedICTXVI:EncyclicalSpeSalvi(30.11.2007),Nos.24,30.“Freedomthatstems
fromhistoricalnecessitiesandthereforebelongstomanfromoutside,asitwere,isnot
freedomatall.Andonthecontrary,withinhumanhistorytherecanneverbeafinal,
inviolablesocialorder,formanisfree,andthisfreedomallowshimtotransformgood
intoitsdenial.Ifanysocietywouldtakethisfreedomawayfromhimdefinitely,this
societywouldbecomeabsolutetyranny,andthereforeasocietythatisdisordered.
Themythofanecessaryanddirectabledevelopmentofhistoryisgraduallydis-
pelled.Itbecomesclear,thatitsperspectiveisnotahistoricalone.Fortherealhistory
deniesitconstantly.Itcanbeconveyed,howeverleavingbehindtherealhistory.”KEP,
p.289.
