Freedom to Choose....

~These are my notes from Tim Keller's book The Reason for God. In this part he is talking about our belief in "freedom" and how believing in Christianity alone is taking away our freedom to choose what we believe....or is it?~


Christianity is supposedly a limit to personal growth and potential b/c it constrains our freedom to choose our own beliefs and practices

 -----Immanuel Kant defined an enlightened human being as one who trusts in his or her own power of thinking, rather than in authority or tradition

§  Freedom cannot be defined in strictly negative terms, as the absence of confinement and constraint----in many cases, confinement and constraint is actually a means to liberation

§  If you have a musical aptitude and spend your time practicing, you are limiting your free time and it is restraining you BUT you have lost your freedom to engage in some things in order to release yourself to a richer kind of freedom to accomplish other things---if you have the talent, the discipline and limitation will unleash your ability that would otherwise go untapped

§  in our society many people have worked extremely hard to pursue careers that pay well rather than fit their talents and interests. These careers are straitjackets that in the long run stifle and dehumanize us

§  disciplines and constraints, then, liberate us only when they fit with the reality of our nature and capacities

o   a fish b/c it absorbs oxygen from water rather than air, is only free if it is restricted and limited to water—if we put it out on the grass, its freedom to move and even live is not enhanced, but destroyed. The fish dies if we don’t

honor the reality of its nature

§  if we only grow intellectually, vocationally, and physically through judicious constraints—why would it not also be true for spiritual and moral growth?

o   Instead of insisting on freedom to create spiritual reality, shouldn’t we be seeking to discover it and disciplining ourselves to live according to it?

§  In many areas of life, freedom is not so much the absence of restrictions as finding the right ones, the liberating restrictions—those that fit with the reality of our nature and the world produce greater power and scope for our abilities and a deeper joy and fulfillment

§  In the most radical way, God has adjusted to us—in his incarnation and atonement. In Jesus Christ he became a limited human being, vulnerable to suffering and death. On the cross, he submitted to our condition—as sinners—and died in our place to forgive us. In the most profound way, God has said to us, in Christ, “I will adjust to you. I will change for you. I’ll serve you though it means a sacrifice for me.” If he has done this for us, we can and should say the same to God and others. 


      November 4th**I don't know what I would do without medicine! It cures my headaches, sore throat, cramps, back pain and everything else that ails me! I can go to the doctor anytime I need to w/out walking miles to get to one and I can order and pay for the medicine I need w/out worrying they are out. (Not the same situation in Africa at all)