I once heard the Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian David Hackett Fischer explain that he sees certain countries as each representing an ideal: for instance, New Zealand, a sense of fairness; Canada, diversity; and the United States, freedom.
Centuries before the US was founded, the Apostle Paul thought deeply about the meaning of freedom. We know of Paul’s thoughts and actions from his letters in the Bible’s New Testament as well as from the book of Acts.
As a young man, Paul sought to take away the freedom of those who followed Jesus, because he felt they were corrupting true religious doctrine and practice. Later, after he experienced a spiritual conversion and began to tell people about Christ Jesus and his teachings, he himself was the target of similar persecution and was imprisoned and beaten several times. Once, when arrested by Roman authorities, he informed his captors that he was a Roman citizen and was appealing his case to the emperor. He then traveled under guard to Rome, where even under house arrest he continued to preach.
What impresses me most about Paul and his views on freedom is that he didn’t think of freedom as just doing whatever you want. For Paul, true liberty meant freely committing to loving others and loving God, who is infinite Love. To truly do that requires selflessness.
As I’ve studied Christian Science, I’ve come to see that wherever in the world we may live, freedom is inherent in our nature as children of one entirely good, all-powerful God. In truth, beyond the human appearance of a person being born at a certain time and then evolving materially, the identity of each one of us is entirely spiritual, not born into or defined by matter. It requires spiritual sense to perceive this, but we can actually enjoy this freedom now. To me, this is the meaning of the Bible’s statement that we are created in God’s image and likeness (see Genesis 1:26, 27).
As we come home to this higher sense of ourselves, we increasingly find dominion over discord and limitation. We see more and more that rather than being limited by circumstances, human decisions, or even our own mistakes, we are governed by God’s law of harmony. And in the same way that a good mother could never want anything other than good and harmony for her child, God provides only freedom for us.
To not be a mere abstraction, the absolute truth of our present freedom must be demonstrated in our experience. That often requires soul-searching, reform, sacrifice, and unflagging persistence. Self-knowledge – an awareness of our thoughts and actions as well as an understanding of who we actually are as a child of God – can show us some stern views of who we seem to be. But the pure desire to do better, which has its origin in God, Spirit, and in our own spiritual perfection as God’s reflection, constitutes a powerful prayer that supports growth in grace.
In the Bible there are many other accounts of people expressing grace, displaying a confident sense of who they are and their present, God-given freedom. Joseph, for instance, was sold into slavery by his own brothers and falsely imprisoned, yet he continued to steadfastly follow God, rose to a prominent position, and not only saved the lives of countless others but forgave his brothers (see Genesis, chapters 37, 39-45). He expressed freedom by not thinking of himself but wanting to serve God.
Freedom meant much to the discoverer of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy. She grew up in a time and place where women’s ideas were generally little valued or even ridiculed. Yet, she didn’t let that stop her from valuing herself and treating graciously even critics of her ideas – especially, of her discovery of Christian Science.
In her main work, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” she includes an extended passage on freedom that begins: “Truth brings the elements of liberty. On its banner is the Soul-inspired motto, ‘Slavery is abolished.’ The power of God brings deliverance to the captive. No power can withstand divine Love” (p. 224). She goes on to say, “Love is the liberator” (p. 225).
The teaching of Christian Science that each and every one of us is free inspires us to understand the spiritual basis of true freedom and demonstrate that freedom.
Adapted from an article published in the July 4, 2022, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.
