Truth And Freedom

Et vos cognoscetis veritatem, et veritas liberabit vos. Tria dicit, quae faciunt hominem rectum. Primum est rectitudo affectus, et hoc notatur in discipulatu Christi; secundum, rectitudo intellectus, et hoc in cognitione veritatis; tertium, rectitudo effectus per liberationem a culpa, et hoc notatur in liberatione veritatis. Vel: discipuli eritis in via per imitationem; veritatem cognoscetis in animae beatificatione ; et veritate liberabimini ab omni corruptione in animae et corporis felici unione; ad Romanos octavo: Ipsa creatura liberabitur a servitute corruptionis in libertatem gloriae flliorum Dei. Responderunt ei. Tangitur hic secundum, scilicet quomodo liberatio promissa a ludaeis parvipenditur, quia ipsi se liberos reputabant; unde gloriantur de libertate et non curant de liberatione. Propterea dicunt ei: Semen Abrahae sumus et nemini servivimus unquam; et ita liberi sumus per naturam; quomodo tu dicis: Liberi eritis, quasi modo non simus liberi? Ideo dicebant se liberos, quia nati de Abraham per Isaac, qui filius fuit liberae, secundum quod dicitur ad Galatas quarto: Eiice anciliam et filium eius; dictum est de Agar; non enim heres erit filius ancillae cum filio liberae, et tractum est de Genesis vigesimo primo. Respondit eis lesus. Tangitur hic tertium, quia necessitas liberationis ostenditur; et ostendit eos servos, et quod habent opus liberatione et quomodo liberantur. Quod ergo sint servi spiritualiter, ostendit tali ratione: Qui facit peccatum servus est peccati; sed vos facitis peccatum: ergo vos estis servi peccati. Minorem huius rationis tacet, quia infra eam exprimit, et conclusionem tacet; sed proponit maiorem dicens: Amen, amen dico vobis : Qui facit peccatum servus est peccati. Hoc probat beatus Petrus in secundae Canonicae secundo: A quo quis superatus est, huius et servus est. Haec est pessima servitus; unde Augustinus: Miserabilis servitus ! Servus hominis aliquando, sui domini duris imperiis fatigatus, fugiendo requiescit; servus vero peccati quo fugit? Secum trahit malam conscientiam, quocumque eat; quia, quocumque vadit , a se non recedit. Sic patet eos esse servos; et ex hoc probat, quod indigent liberatione, tali ratione: qui non manet in domo in aeternum indiget liberari ab eo qui manet, et per eum potest liberari; sed servus non manet, Filius autem manet: ergo servus per Filium indiget et potest liberari. Sed vos estis servi, ut supra dictum est: si ergo vos Filius liberaverit, vere liberi eritis. Servus non manet in domo in aeternum, Filius manet in aeternum. Augustinus exponit: Qui est servus peccati non manet in domo in aeternum, id est flnaliter, quamvis possit esse de praesenti Ecclesia quantum ad numerum. Tales servi, etsi sint in domo cum bonis , tamen non habent vestem nuptialem; ideo eiiciuntur, secundum illud Matthaei vigesimo secundo: Amice, quomodo huc intrasti, non habens vestem nuptialem? Et post subditur: Proiicite eum in tenebras exteriores. Si ergo Filius vos liberaverit,vere liberi eritis, ille, inquam, Filius solus est liber, quia solus sine peccato; unde in Psalmo: Factus sum sicut homo sine adiutorio, inter mortuos liber. Et ratio redditur infra decimo quarto : Venit princeps mundi huius et in me non habet quidquam. Iste Filius liber, ut nos liberaret, factus est pro nobis quasi servus; ad Philippenses secundo: Humiliavit semetipsum, formam servi accipiens etc. Hic igitur nos liberavit redimendo; Isaiae quinquagesimo secundo: Gratis venundati estis, et sine argento redimemini; quia, sicut dicitur primae Petri primo, non corruptibilibus auro vel argento redempti estis, sed pretioso sanguine quasi Agni immaculati et incontaminati, Christi lesu. Non, inquam, ut iterum simus servi, sed liberi; unde ad Galatas quinto: Vos, inquit, fratres, in libertatem vocati estis, tantum ne libertatem in occasionem detis carnis sed per caritatem spiritus servite invicem Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Evangelium Ioannem, Caput VIII Source: Here, p773-6

'And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.' 1 He speaks of three things which make a man right. Firstly the rightness of love, and this is noted in the discipleship of Christ, secondly the rightness of the intellect, and this is the knowledge of truth, and the third is the rightness of the effect in the liberation from fault, and this is noted in the liberation of truth. Or: you shall be disciples in the way by imitation, you shall know the truth in the beatification of your soul, and you shall be freed in the truth from every corruption of soul and body in the blessed union, as in the eighth chapter of Romans: 'This creation shall be liberated from the servitude of corruption in the liberty of the glory of the sons of God.' 2 'They answered Him....' This touches on the second point, that is, the promised freedom weighs little on the Jews because they think themselves free, whence they glory in freedom and do not have care for it. Therefore they say to him: 'We are the seed of Abraham and we have never served anyone, and thus we are naturally free. How do you say we will be free as if we were not free?' 3 Therefore they named themselves free because they were born of Abraham through Isaac, who was the son of the free woman, concerning which it is said in the fourth chapter of Galatians: 'Cast out the slave woman and her son', which is Agar, 'the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.' and as it is written in the twenty first chapter of Genesis. 4 'Jesus says to them...' Here the third point is touched upon, because He shows the necessity of liberation, and He shows them to be slaves, and that they have the work of freedom to do, and how they are liberated. Because, then, they are spiritual slaves, He reveals it by such reason: 'He who sins is a slave to sin.' 5 You sin therefore you are slaves to sin. This minor premise is unspoken, because it is expressed within it, and the conclusion is also unspoken, and he sets forth the major, saying, 'Amen, amen, I say to you, He who sins is a slave to sin.' The blessed Peter approves this in the second chapter of the second canonical epistle: 'By what a man is ruled, he is its slave.' 6 This is the worse servitude. Whence Augustus says: 'Wretched servitude. Sometimes the slave of a man, exhausted by the commands of a hard master, finds peace in flight, but where will a servant of sin flee? He drags his evil conscience with him wherever he may go, because wherever he goes, he does not depart from himself.' 7 So it is evident they are slaves, and with this He proves they need liberation, with such reason: he who does not remain in the house forever is in need of being freed by the one who does remain, and by him he is able to be freed, but the slave does not remain, the Son does. Therefore the slave has need of the Son, so that he can be freed. But you are slaves, as was said above, 'If therefore the son has liberated you, truly you will be free.' 8 'The slave does remain in the house forever, the son remains forever.' Augustine explains: 'He who is a servant of sin does not remain in the house forever, that is, until the end, although it is possible for him to be numbered among the present Church. Such slaves, even if there are in a house full of good things, yet do not have the wedding garment, and therefore they are cast out, according to the twenty second chapter of Matthew: 'Friend, how to you come in here without a wedding garment?' And after: 'Throw him out into the outer darkness.' 9 'If therefore the son has liberated you, truly you will be free.' The Son alone, I say, is free, because He alone is without sin, whence it is said in the Psalm: 'I am made like a man without a helper, a free man among the dead.' 10 And the reason he gives later in the fourteenth chapter here: 'The prince of the world comes and in me he finds nothing.' 11 This son is free, so that He might free us, He who was made as a slave for us, according to the second chapter of Philippians: 'He humbled Himself, taking on the form of a slave...' 12 He then frees us with a ransom. In the fifty second chapter of Isaiah: 'You were sold for nothing and without silver you shall be bought,' 13 because as it is said in the first chapter of the first letter of Peter: 'You were not redeemed with corruptible gold or silver but with the precious blood of the immaculate and spotless lamb, Jesus Christ.' 14 And not, I say, that we become slaves again but that we be free, whence in the fifth chapter of Galatians: 'You, brothers, have been called to freedom, only do not let your freedom become an occasion for the indulgence of the flesh, but serve one another in the spirit of love.' 15 Saint Bonaventura, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 8 1 Jn 8.32 2 Rom 8.21 3 Jn 8.33 4 Galat 4.30, Gen. 21.10 5 Jn 8.34 6 2 Pet 2.19 7 August Tractates On John 41.4 8 Jn 8.35-36 9 August Tractates On John 41.8, Mt 22.12-13 10 Ps 87.6 11 Jn 14.30 12 Phil 2.7 13 Isaiah 52.3 14 1 Pet 1.18-19 15 Galat 5.13