Moral theology- freedom & the Decalogue

[FightingFat]

Hi everyone. I’m studying moral theology at the mo as part of my BA in Divinity and I wondered if we could discuss the Decalogue.

In my course our tutor explains how we tend to view laws as restrictive today, but that for the Hebrews it was a privilege (cf. Ps 147).

Now Hamel calls the Decalogue the “Ten Words of Freedom”. Can anyone help me understand how this might be true and how to think about this more clearly?

Thanks in advance!

 

[srlucado]

I’m no theologian (not by a long shot), but I look at it this way: (I’m about to give you a very poor metaphor, but maybe it’ll help.)

Imagine we all have cars, but there are no traffic laws. How would anybody ever get anywhere? No speed limits, no rules on which lane to drive in (picture an American in the UK trying to drive on the right!), no stoplights, no threat of traffic cops.

To today’s individual, traffic laws may seem restrictive (especially when he’s in a hurry and gets a speeding ticket), but overall, laws enable everyone to have a consistent means of getting where they’re going.

Let’s take this one step further. Imagine you live in an evironment in which there’s a ruler, but he’s capricious. One day, what you do is okay; the next day you’re flogged within an inch of your life for it. What kind of life is that?

I think that compared to those scenarios, having Ten Commandments makes our lives easier in ways that we don’t really stop to think about; they’re such a part of our moral fabric that they’re like water to a fish. Take away that water, though, and a fish doesn’t last long.

 

[FightingFat]

Thanks Sr that’s a nice way of looking at it!

 

[Biggie]

Non-theologically, I had a question as a child I posed to my dad - if I am free, why can I not do what I want? How can I be free if I can’t lie, for example.

My dad’s response was that I am free to do good. If I chose to do a good, I am free to do the next good. If, however, I chose to do evil, until I disown that evil, I am subject to it. If I lie, then I must lie to cover up the original lie and continue lying until I disown it. I am no longer truly free.

It made sense to me then and still makes sense to me now, childish as I am.

 

[AdriannaJean]

I’ve had it described to me this way: there are two places for you to live. One is a square kilometer, fenced off, but inside is everything that you will ever need. You have friends, school, work, food, but you are enclosed within this fence. The second place has no fence. You are free to roam as far as you like. But, hidden everywhere are land mines. In which place are you more free?