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Freedom is one of the most powerful words of our time. But already in the 4th century, Saint Augustine was asking what it truly means to be free. He wasn’t speaking of political or social freedom, but of a deeper freedom: the freedom of the soul. In this video, we will explore how Augustine understood freedom, and why his vision remains relevant today.
1. Freedom as Gift and Responsibility
For Augustine, freedom is not simply the ability to choose anything. It is the capacity to direct one’s will toward the good.
Man is endowed with free will, but this gift carries responsibility: choosing not only what pleases, but what leads to truth.
Freedom, therefore, is not the absence of constraints, but the conscious adherence to the good.
2. The Drama of Sin
Augustine knew well the fragility of human nature. In the Confessions, he recounts his youth marked by passions and desires that pulled him away from God.
Sin, for him, is a false freedom: it seems to liberate, but in reality it imprisons.
The person who chooses evil becomes a slave to their passions, unable to direct the will toward truth.
3. True Freedom: Adhering to God
The turning point comes with conversion. Augustine realizes that authentic freedom does not consist in doing whatever one wants, but in wanting what is right.
Freedom is fully realized only in union with God, because God is Truth and the absolute Good.
To be free means to be capable of love: to love God and, through Him, to love others.
4. Grace and Freedom
A central point in Augustine’s thought is the relationship between freedom and grace.
Man alone cannot save himself: his freedom is wounded by sin.
It is divine grace that makes true freedom possible, liberating the will and orienting it toward the good. Augustine does not deny human freedom, but places it within a greater horizon: that of God’s mercy.
5. The Relevance of Augustine’s Thought
Today we speak of freedom in terms of rights, personal choices, autonomy. But Augustine reminds us that freedom is not just “doing what I want.”
It is the ability to choose the good even when it costs.
It is responsibility toward others.
It is openness to a truth greater than ourselves.
In a world that often confuses freedom with individualism, Augustine’s voice invites us to rediscover freedom as a path of truth and love.
Saint Augustine gives us a vision of freedom that does not end in choice, but is fulfilled in love. To be free means to be able to say “yes” to the good, “yes” to God, “yes” to a love that makes us fully human. And perhaps, today more than ever, this is the freedom we most need.