Review article
Freedom in the Value System of the Church Fathers
Drago Tukara
; Catholic Faculty of Theology, J. J. Strossmayer University of Osijek, Đakovo, Croatia
Abstract
The author deals with the Church Fathers at the time of the formation and development of the Church as an institution and a community established by God. Particular emphasis is placed on freedom as a basic component of human beings, without which even the Church Fathers could not speak of man as the realization of God’s image. The article is divided into three parts.
The first part is devoted to the presentation of the historical context in which the freedom of Christians was emerging against the freedom of other nations of the Roman Empire who had already in a way acquired and enjoyed freedom. It is based on the reports of several Church Fathers who have for the present time become faithful reporters of political and social situations of that time. The author stresses the position of Christians in the society, and their incorporation into the pagan mentality. The author, of course, points out that, in the entire situation, the Christians were the positivists who waded through the morass of administrative and political problems.
The second part is devoted to the theological foundation of man’s freedom. The author talks about freedom, that is, about man, about his personality which includes a spirit, a soul and a body. The author uses thoughts and interpretations of Church Fathers on the creation of man with all his attributes and elements, and which indicate his resemblance to his God the Creator. This goes to show that man’s freedom and free will spring from the Creator's plan as the basis for man’s further personal activity and life within the whole human community. Together with the Church Fathers, the author shows that man by his freedom fulfills his ontological, earthly and eschatological mission in light of the image of God.
The third part of the article points to the reasons for the loss or deprivation of freedom. In the beginning, the Christians found themselves between three fires. The author points out the Roman religion which did not allow any other religion to freely develop and exist, if it presented a threat. The philosophical heritage and the Jewish mentality acted in the same or a similar way towards Christians. Since the Christians had a completely new way of living, thinking and acting, they had to come into conflict with their “neighbors”, which led to the denial or deprivation of freedom. In all this, the author points out that the theology of that time was one of the main reasons for denying or depriving Christians of freedom.
Keywords
Church Fathers; man; freedom; the image of God; theology; philosophy; Judaism; Roman law; pagans; human nature
Hrčak ID:
116150
URI
Publication date:
12.2.2014.
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