14. The Liberty of the Soul

I. The autonomy of man, the freedom of his will, is a most valuable and noble prerogative. “God made man from the beginning and left him in the hand of his own counsel” (Eccli. xv. 14). Intelligence and freedom go together. Each involves the other. Intelligence without liberty to carry out its conclusions is an incompleteness, a violence, a state of slavery. To speak of freedom without the power of understanding and balancing the alternatives of choice is a contradiction in terms. Man therefore possesses absolute control within himself; none can interfere with this, even though a man may be prevented by his weakness or by external force from carrying his will into effect. This dignity is valued beyond all others; and there are very few who are not ready to sacrifice almost every other advantage in order to retain the fulness of their freedom. The possession of this is enough to raise man high above the level of the material universe, and to make him, insignificant as he may be in bulk and strength, a nobler being than the most brilliant of the fixed stars. This does not mean that you are irresponsible, but that you have so much a stricter account to render. It gives you the power to do as you like, but not the right as against God. It does not mean that you may act without restraint, but that the restraint must come from yourself. Use your freedom accordingly.
II. As the possession of freedom raises man so high among creatures, making him like to God in a most important respect; so it gives an immense value and an immense power to human actions. As the rational soul is a nobler being than the great orb of the sun, so all the energies of the celestial bodies throughout space are not equal in value to one act of human worship and love. The service of our souls is then the highest in kind that creation can return to its Maker. On the other hand, the disobedience of a rational and free being possesses a corresponding enormity of malice. There is nothing so evil as to turn these great powers against Him from whom they are derived. One venial sin is a greater blot in the universe than the collapse and destruction of a solar system. Actions of such enormous import must have tremendous consequences for good or evil. Do not think that a transient deed of virtue or vice is not proportioned to these great results. That deed is the expression of the supreme determination of the autocratic human will in favour of Supreme Goodness or in revolt against it. Sin is then the supreme evil, and it must have corresponding consequences. All the miseries of the world are the result of revolt against religion and moral law.

III. The exercise of liberty in serving God implies a choice between two alternatives. There must be power to disobey as well as to obey. To keep the law when there is no power to transgress, is but a mechanical act and not an act of virtue. We must have the option between good and evil; and the choice of evil involves the consequences of evil—misery and hell. If God were to make these impossible, it could only be by making us unable to sin, i.e. it would be at the expense of our liberty. And what would this involve? Absolute freedom of will is the basis of merit and reward. There is no dignity in a reward that is not earned, or that is given for unintelligent indeliberate service; on the contrary the higher such a reward is, the more unmeaning it becomes, and the more discreditable to giver and receiver. Without full liberty men of good-will would lose all opportunities of sacrifice, generosity, heroism and victory. Those of evil-will would esteem it no favour for God to limit their freedom for the sake of forcing on them a benefit that they do not want. They would be the first to denounce such beneficence as tyranny. Your liberty is a terrible gift. Its advantages are infinite, and, unless you use it well, its disadvantages may be infinite too.