Freedom as Relationship

11.12.2012

Freedom is not a quality of man, nor is it an ability, a capacity, a kind of being that somehow flares up in him. Anyone investigating man to discover freedom finds nothing of it. Why? Because freedom is not a quality which can be revealed—it is not a possession, a presence, an object, nor is it a form of existence—but a relationship and nothing else. In truth, freedom is a relationship between two persons. Being free means “being free for the other,” because the other has bound me to him. Only in relationship with the other am I free.

DIETRICH BONHOEFFER, Creation and Fall Temptation