WHAT IS FREEDOM? WHY CHRISTIANITY AND THEORETICAL LIBERALISM CANNOT BE RECONCILED
In this paper I argue that a pervasive “religion as tyranny” view has its roots in a philosophical misunderstanding about human freedom. The established liberal view, which is a kind of “empty Protestantism,” conceives of freedom primarily in negative terms as freedom of choice or amoral autonomy. I...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell
2006
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In: |
Heythrop journal
Year: 2006, Volume: 47, Issue: 2, Pages: 257-274 |
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Summary: | In this paper I argue that a pervasive “religion as tyranny” view has its roots in a philosophical misunderstanding about human freedom. The established liberal view, which is a kind of “empty Protestantism,” conceives of freedom primarily in negative terms as freedom of choice or amoral autonomy. I argue that this approach, which originates in Puritan theology, leads inevitably to a wide-ranging indifferentism and that indifferentism is incompatible with Christianity. Christians need to elaborate in response a positive definition of freedom as moral autonomy or good rebellion. Insomuch as religion is an essential aspect of human flourishing, it liberates rather than enslaves the individual. |
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ISSN: | 1468-2265 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Heythrop journal
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2265.2006.00287.x |