Monday, April 25, 2016 Feast of St. Mark

Hosea, Chapter 10, Verse 5

⁵ The inhabitants of Samaria are afraid for the calf of Beth-aven; its people mourn for it and its idolatrous priests wail over it, —over its glory which has departed from it.

This verse speaks of a people who want to be God's people while at the same time they want to worship pagan gods-they want it all.  They want freedom without truth.  No society can last long feeding on a diet of moral relativism. 

Moral relativism is the view that moral judgments are true or false only relative to some particular standpoint (for instance, that of a culture or a historical period) and that no standpoint is uniquely privileged over all others.

According to Dr. Peter Kreeft[1], author and professor of philosophy at Boston College there are four different kinds of freedom and one false freedom.

The first freedom men often seek deliverance from is are obstacles or external wants of life such as poverty, material needs, dishonor, weakness, disease/death, pain, oppression, slavery and defeat.

The second freedom is more internal and spiritual in nature. Man seeks to be free to 1) have a free mind; to understand and to obtain wisdom 2) pursue human happiness and emotional well-being and 3) man wants his free will.

The third freedom is a belief that all men have a right to freewill. If we believe otherwise we treat others as objects and may justify and rationalize the use of violence against them.

The fourth freedom is liberty that is given by the Holy Spirit when we turn our freewill over to Christ and obtain freedom from sin via the new covenant which gives us eternal life.

The fifth freedom is a false freedom or myth of autonomy with no dependence on God. This false freedom comes in three forms 1) Individualism (Pride-self-esteem-I’m OK; your OK livelihood) 2) Hedonism (lust-pleasure) 3) Materialism (Greed). In order to have true freedom we should seek poverty, chastity and obedience.  Surely the poor are freer than the rich.

Professor Kreeft recommends 10 steps or paradigms to true freedom.

1. There are many types of freedom.
2. These freedoms must be in the right order.
3. We must put our freedoms in the right order.
4. Freedoms are political.
5. To be free we need detachment.
6. Everything is from God.
7. Use lower freedoms do not let them use you.
8. You are free in Christ; without Him you make your own prison.
9. Christ is our true freedom.
10. Only Christ.

 

---

[1] Peter Kreeft, Lecture at Catholic Men’s Conference, Phoenix, Arizona, 3/21/2015.