Biblijna nauka o wolności i wyzwoleniu

Abstract

Freedom and liberation are among much focused on entries and yet they are constantly missing from the life of human community. This results from an erroneous notion of freedom, which appeared in modern times and gave rise to social structures of captivity. We therefore turn to Revelation to learn how we should properly understand and build freedom Christ instructs us that the only liberating factor is His Truth. The Church, which – especially in the context of the so called theology o f liberation – issued two significant Instructions showing dangers and developing positive knowledge of freedom and liberation, has been teaching it. The article focuses on a Biblical notion of freedom as shown through the history of Israel and the instruction of the New Testament. In the Bible freedom is primarily a matter of being free from sin. Historical experiences of Israel show that God Himself is the guarantor of freedom and mending one's ways is a means to achieve it. The main form of captivity and the source of its various kinds is sin. Prophets heralded the instruction in freedom, and Trito Isaiah's texts are especially informative. The New Testament shows that the basic liberation takes place within a person, and the most important principle is the commandment of love. True liberation takes place in the Death and Resurrection of Christ, which is also good news of freedom. The way to liberation is therefore evangelisation, i.e., preaching the good news of freedom. This should also show the importance of God's commandments on the way to freedom and demonstrate the relevance of their message, though here it is most important to accept with confidence the gift of God's Wisdom. In conclusion three subjects are developed: the commandment of love is the way to freedom, as is the cross, and because people need a genuine example, St. Francis of Assisi is shown as an evangelically free man.