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God's Freedom: Free to be Bound
Author(s) -
Lohmann Friedrich
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
modern theology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.144
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1468-0025
pISSN - 0266-7177
DOI - 10.1111/moth.12423
Subject(s) - humanity , philosophy , narrative , theology , free will , new testament , linguistics
Abstract It is a rather undisputed fact that God is free. Things become more intriguing when we ask how God exercises this freedom. The following essay answers this question by starting with the New Testament narrative concerning Jesus Christ, who is believed to be the image of God (John 14:9). In Jesus Christ, God uses God's freedom to restrict Godself. God is free to be bound. Taking into account God's covenantal relationship with humanity and the act of creation, which can be interpreted as God's free decision in favor of an independent world, God's self‐restriction appears to be a generous act of giving, determined by God's all‐encompassing attitude of faithful love. God's free self‐restriction is actually an act of self‐fulfillment.