73、⑴人拥有理性和自由，或理智和自主；这两种官能来自人里面的主。我在《圣爱与圣智》一书（264-270，425节）和本书（43，44节）论述了这一事实：人拥有理解力的官能，也就是理性，还拥有思考、意愿、说和做他所理解的官能，也就是自由，这两种官能来自人里面的主。但由于当人们思想这两种官能时，可能会对它们产生许多质疑，所以在这个关头，我想简单说一说人所拥有的照其理性行动的自由。
然而，首先必须知道的是，一切自由都是爱的一种属性，以至于爱和自由为一。由于爱是人的生命，故自由也属于他的生命。因为人所拥有的一切快乐都来自他的爱；快乐不可能来自其它任何源头；出于爱的快乐行动就是出于自由行动；一个人被快乐牵引，就像一个物体被河流载走一样。由于爱多种多样，有些是和谐的，有些是不和谐的，所以可推知，自由同样多种多样；但总体上分为三种：属世自由，理性自由和属灵自由。
每个人都通过遗传获得属世自由。人出于属世自由只爱自己和世界；他最初的爱不是别的。由于一切邪恶皆源于这两种爱，因而邪恶成为爱的对象，所以可推知，思考和意愿邪恶是人的属世自由。当通过理性确认邪恶时，他就是出于自由照其理性行恶。他如此行恶是由于他那被称为自由的官能，他确认它们是由于他那被称为理性的官能。
例如，正是由于一个人与生俱来的爱，他才想要通奸、欺诈、亵渎和报复；当从心里将这些邪恶合理化，并由此把它们合法化时，因着热爱它们的快乐，可以说他自由地照理性思考和意愿它们，并且只要世间的法律不阻止，他还会说出来、做出来。正是由于主的圣治，人才被允许如此行，因为他拥有自由或自主。人因遗传天生就在这种自由中；那些因爱自己爱世界的快乐而将这种自由合理化的人都在享受它。
理性自由来自要么为了尊敬要么为了物质利益而对名声的爱。这爱的快乐在于表面上装得像一个道德人；人因喜爱这种名声，所以不会欺诈、通奸、报复或亵渎。此外，他因使这种行为变成理性的东西，故也会以诚实、公正、贞洁和友好的方式出于自由照其理性行动。事实上，他能出于这种理性提倡这种行为。然而，如果这种理性是纯属世的，同时不是属灵的，那么这种自由纯粹是外在自由，而不是内在自由；因为他内心一点也不爱这些良善，只是为了自己的名声表面上装装样子罢了，如前所述。因此，他所行的善事本身并不是良善。他甚至会说，应当为了公众利益而做这些事；但他这样说不是出于对公众利益的爱，而是出于对自己的名声或利益的爱。因此，他的自由没有一丝对公众利益的爱在里面，他的理性也是，因为这理性只是赞同他的爱。结果，这种“理性自由”是一种更内在的属世自由。按照主的圣治，这种自由也留给每个人。
属灵自由来自对永生的爱。除了那些视恶如罪，并因此不意愿它们，同时仰望主的人外，没有人能获得这爱及其快乐。一旦人如此行，他就处于这种自由。因为人因邪恶是罪而不去意愿它们，并因此不去作恶的能力，来自更内在或更高的自由，这自由来自他更内在或更高的爱。一开始，这种自由看上去不像是自由；然而，它的确是。后来，它的确看上去是自由，那时人就出于自由本身照着理性本身，通过思考、意愿、说和做良善和真理而行动。这种自由会随着属世自由的减少和顺服而增加，并与它所洁净的理性自由结合。
人人都能获得这种自由，只要他愿意思想生命是永恒的，与永生无尽的快乐和幸福相比，世上生命的短暂快乐和幸福不过如同转瞬即逝的影儿。一个人若愿意，是能想到这一点的，因为他拥有自由和自主，还因为这两种官能所源于的主不断赐下这样做的能力。
73. (1) A human being has reason and freedom, or rationality and liberty, and these two faculties are present in a person from the Lord. The fact that a human being has the faculty of understanding, which is rationality, and the faculty of thinking, willing, speaking and doing what he understands, which is freedom, and that these two faculties are present in a person from the Lord, is something we have discussed in our treatise Divine Love and Wisdom 264-270, 425, and also above in nos. 43-44.
Still, because a number of questions regarding each of these two faculties may occur when one thinks about them, I wish at this point to say something simply about the freedom found in the human being to act in accordance with his reason.
[2] First, however, it must be known that freedom is wholly a matter of love, so that love and freedom are united. Moreover, because love is a person's life, freedom is also a matter of his life. For every delight that a person experiences springs from his love. Only from that origin is any delight possible, and to be moved to act by a delight of one's love is to act in freedom, since delight draws a person as a river does an object which is borne along of itself in the direction of its current.
Now because loves are of many kinds, some concordant and some discordant, it follows that there are likewise many kinds of freedom. In general, however, there are three kinds: natural freedom, rational freedom, and spiritual freedom.
[3] Natural freedom everyone has hereditarily. From his heredity a person loves only himself and the world. His initial life is nothing else. And because all evils spring from these two loves, and evils consequently become matters of one's love, it follows that to think and will evils is a person's natural freedom, and that when he has confirmed them in himself by reasonings, he does them in freedom in accordance with his reason. His doing so is owing to his faculty called freedom; and his confirming them is owing to his faculty called rationality.
[4] So, for example, it is because of the love into which a person is born that he wills to commit adultery, to defraud, to blaspheme, and to take revenge; and when he confirms these evils in himself and thereby makes them allowable, then because of his love's delight in them he thinks and wills them freely as though in accordance with reason, and to the extent that he is not restrained by civil laws, speaks and does them.
It is of the Lord's Divine providence that a person is permitted to do so, because he has freedom or liberty.
A person has this kind of freedom by nature, because of his heredity. And those are in the enjoyment of this freedom who, from the delight of a love of self and the world, have by reasonings confirmed it in themselves.
[5] Rational freedom results from a love of one's reputation for the sake of honor or material gain. The delight of this love is to appear in outward demeanor like a moral person. And because he loves such a reputation, the person does not defraud, commit adultery, take revenge, or blaspheme. Moreover, because he makes this behavior a matter of his reason, he also acts in freedom in accordance with his reason in an honest, just, chaste, and friendly manner. Indeed, he may speak well in accord with reason in support of such conduct.
If, however, his rational conduct is natural only, and not at the same time spiritual, this freedom is merely external freedom, and not internal freedom; for despite his conduct the person does not love these good actions inwardly, but only outwardly, for the sake of his reputation, as we said. Consequently the good things that he does are not good in themselves. He may even say that such things are to be done for the sake of the public good, but he says it not out of a love for the public good, but out of a love for his own honor or gain. His freedom, therefore, draws none of its quality from a love for the public good, and neither does his reason, because it yields to his love. Consequently this kind of rational freedom is a more interior natural freedom.
The Lord's Divine providence allows everyone this freedom, too.
[6] Spiritual freedom results from a love of eternal life. No one else comes into that love and its delight but one who thinks that evils are sins and for that reason does not will them, and who at the same time looks to the Lord. As soon as a person does this, he is in that state of freedom. For no one can resist willing evils because they are sins and for that reason not do them except by the exercise of an interior or higher freedom which results from an interior or higher love that he has.
This kind of freedom does not appear at first to be freedom, even though it is. But afterward it does appear to be so, and a person then acts in real freedom in accordance with real reason, thinking, willing, speaking and doing what is good and true.
This state of freedom grows as the exercise of natural freedom decreases and becomes its servant, and as it unites itself with rational freedom and purifies it.
[7] Anyone can come into this freedom provided he is willing to believe that life is eternal, and that any delight and blessedness of life in time, for a time, is but as a fleeting shadow compared to the delight and blessedness of life in eternity, to eternity. Moreover, a person can believe this, if he is willing to, because he has rationality and freedom, and because the Lord from whom he has these two faculties continually gives him the ability.
73. 1. We have a capacity for disciplined thought and a certain latitude, or rationality and freedom, and these two abilities are in us as gifts from the Lord. In Divine Love and Wisdom 264-270, 425 and also in 43-44 above, I discussed the fact that we have an ability to discern, which is rationality, and an ability to think, intend, speak, and do what we understand, which is freedom. I also discussed the fact that these two abilities are the Lord's gifts within us. However, since any number of doubts may arise about both of these abilities when we think about them, at this juncture I want simply to convey something about the freedom we have to act in accord with reason.
[2] First, though, it needs to be clear that all freedom is a matter of love, even to the point that love and freedom are the same thing. Since love is our life, freedom is also essential to our life. Every pleasure we experience comes from our love; there is no other source of pleasure. Acting for the sake of the pleasure of our love is acting in freedom, because pleasure leads us along, the way a river bears its burdens quite naturally along its current.
Since we have many loves, some of which agree with each other and some of which disagree, it follows that we likewise have many kinds of freedom. In general, though, there are three kinds: earthly, rational, and spiritual.
[3] All of us have earthly freedom by heredity. It is what makes us love nothing but ourselves and the world, and it is all there is to our life at first. Further, since all evils stem from these two loves and evils therefore become objects of our love, it follows that thinking and intending evil is our earthly freedom. It also follows that when we support these intentions with reasons, we are acting in our freedom and in accord with our reason. Acting in this way is acting from the ability we call "freedom," and supporting the actions is from the ability we call "rationality."
[4] For example, it is from the love we are born into that we want to commit adultery, cheat, blaspheme, and get even; and when we rationalize these evils inwardly and thereby make them legal, then we are thinking and intending them because of the pleasure of the love we have for them and in accord with a kind of reason; and to the extent that civil laws do not prevent it, we speak out and act out. We can behave like this because of divine providence, since we do have that latitude or freedom. We enjoy the latitude naturally because we get it through heredity, and we actively enjoy this latitude whenever we rationalize it because of the pleasure inherent in our love for ourselves and for the world.
[5] Rational freedom comes from a love for our own reputation, either for the sake of respect or for the sake of profit. This love finds its pleasure in putting on the outward appearance of moral character; and because we love this kind of reputation, we do not cheat, commit adultery, take vengeance, or blaspheme. Since this is the substance of our reasoning, we are also doing what is honest, fair, chaste, and cordial in freedom and according to reason. In fact, we can even talk rationally in favor of these virtues.
However, if our rational activity is only earthly and not spiritual, this is only an external freedom and not an internal one. We still do not love these virtues inwardly, only outwardly, for the sake of our reputation, as just noted. This means that the good things we do are not really good. We might be saying that they are to be done for the sake of the public good, but we are not saying this because of any love for the public good, only because of our love for our own reputation or for profit. Consequently, this freedom of ours has nothing of love for the public good in it, and neither does our reasoning, since this simply agrees with our love. As a result, this "rational freedom" is inwardly an earthly freedom. It too is left to us by divine providence.
[6] Spiritual freedom comes from a love for eternal life. The only people who arrive at this love and its pleasure are people who think that evils are sins and therefore do not want to do them, and who at the same time turn toward the Lord. The moment we do this, we are in spiritual freedom, because it is only from an inner or higher freedom that we can stop intending evils because they are sins and therefore not do them. This kind of freedom comes from an inner or higher love.
At first, it does not seem like freedom, but it is, nevertheless. Later it does seem that way, and then we act from real freedom and in accord with real rationality by thinking and intending and saying and doing what is good and true.
This freedom grows stronger as our earthly freedom wanes and becomes subservient; it unites itself with rational freedom and purifies it.
[7] We can all arrive at this kind of freedom if we are just willing to think that there is an eternal life and that the temporary pleasure and bliss of life in time is like a passing shadow compared to the eternal pleasure and bliss of life in eternity. We can think this way if we want to, because we do have rationality and liberty, and because the Lord, who is the source of these two abilities, constantly gives us the power to do so.
73. I. MAN HAS REASON AND FREEDOM, OR RATIONALITY AND LIBERTY; AND THESE TWO FACULTIES ARE FROM THE LORD IN MAN. That man has the faculty of understanding, which is rationality, and the faculty of thinking, willing, speaking and doing that which he understands, which is liberty; and that these two faculties are from the Lord, in man, have been treated of in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (n. 264-270, 425); and also above (n. 43-44 ). As many doubts, however, may arise concerning both these faculties when they are made subjects of thought, I will at the outset merely present some observations on freedom of acting according to reason in man.
[2] First, however, it should be known that all freedom is of love, insomuch that love and freedom are one; and as love is the life of man, freedom also is of his life. For every delight that a man has is from his love, nor can delight come from any other source; and to act from the delight of love is to act from freedom, for a man is led by delight as something that is borne along by the current of a river. Now, since there are many kinds of loves, some in harmony and others discordant, it follows that there are likewise many kinds of freedom; but in general there are three, natural, rational and spiritual.
[3] Natural freedom every man has from inheritance. From it man loves nothing but self and the world: his first love is nothing else. Since all evils exist from these two loves, and hence also become evils of love, it follows that to think and to will evils is man's natural freedom; and that when he has confirmed evils in himself by reasonings he does evils from freedom in accordance with his reason. To act thus is from his faculty called liberty, and to confirm the evils is from his faculty called rationality.
[4] A man's desire, for example, to commit adultery, to defraud, to blaspheme, to take revenge, is from the love into which he is born; and when he confirms these evils in himself and thereby makes them allowable, then from delight in the love of them he thinks and wills them freely as it were in accordance with his reason, and so far as civil laws do not restrain, he speaks and acts accordingly. It is from the Divine Providence of the Lord that man is permitted to do so, because he has freedom or liberty. Man is in this freedom by nature, because from inheritance, and in this freedom are those who by reasonings have confirmed it in themselves from the delight of self-love and the love of the world.
[5] Rational freedom is from the love of reputation for the sake of honour and gain. The delight of this love is to appear externally as a moral man; and because such a one loves this reputation, he does not defraud, commit adultery, take revenge, or blaspheme; and because he makes his conduct a matter of reason, he also from freedom according to his reason acts in sincere, chaste and friendly ways; indeed, he can from reason speak well of such conduct. But if his rational is merely natural, and not at the same time spiritual, this freedom is only external and not internal freedom; for he does not in the least interiorly love such good, but only outwardly for the sake of reputation, as has been said; and for this reason the good deeds that he does are not in themselves good. Still, he can say that such things ought to be done for the public welfare; but this he says not from any love of the public welfare, but from the love of his own honour or gain. His freedom, therefore, derives nothing from a love of the public welfare, nor does his reason derive anything, for it harmonises with his love. Consequently this rational freedom is merely a more interior natural freedom; and this freedom also by the Divine Providence of the Lord remains with every man.
[6] Spiritual freedom is from the love of eternal life. Into this love and its delight no one comes but the man who thinks that evils are sins, and consequently does not will them, and at the same time looks to the Lord. As soon as a man does so, he is in this freedom; for no one has the power not to will evils because they are sins and so to refrain from doing them, unless from a more interior or higher freedom which is from a more interior or higher love. At first this freedom does not appear to be freedom, and yet it is; and later it does so appear, when the man acts from freedom itself according to reason itself, in thinking, willing, speaking and doing what is good and true. This freedom increases as natural freedom decreases and becomes subservient; and it conjoins itself with rational freedom which it purifies.
[7] Everyone may come into this freedom provided he is willing to think that there is an eternal life, and that the temporary delight and bliss of a life in time are but as a fleeting shadow compared with the never-ending delight and bliss of a life in eternity. This a man can think if he wishes, because he has rationality and liberty, and because the Lord, from whom these two faculties are derived, continually gives him the ability to do so.
73. (1) Man, possesses reason and freedom, or rationality and liberty, and these two faculties are in man from the Lord. That man has the faculty of understanding which is rationality and the faculty of thinking, willing, speaking, and doing what he understands, which is liberty, and that these two faculties are in man from the Lord, has been treated of in Divine Love and Wisdom 264-270, and Divine Love and Wisdom 425; also above, 43-44). But as many doubts may arise respecting either of these when they are made a subject of thought, at the outset I will merely advance something respecting the freedom to act in accordance with reason that is in man.
[2] First, however, it must be known that all freedom is a property of love, insomuch that love and freedom are one. And as love is the life of man, freedom also belongs to his life. For every enjoyment that man has is from his love; no enjoyment is possible from any other source; and acting from love's enjoyment is acting from freedom; for a man is led by enjoyment as a thing is borne along by the current of a river. Since, then, there are numerous loves, some harmonious and some discordant, it follows that there are likewise numerous kinds of freedom; but in general three, natural, rational, and spiritual.
[3] Natural freedom every one has by inheritance. From it man loves nothing but self and the world; his first life is nothing else. And as from these two loves all evils spring, and thus it comes that evils belong to the love, it follows that thinking and willing evils is man's natural freedom; and when he has confirmed evils in himself by reasonings he does evils from freedom in accordance with his reason. Thus his doing evils is from his faculty that is called liberty; and his confirming them is from his faculty that is called rationality.
[4] A man's desire, for example, to commit adultery, to defraud, to blaspheme, to take revenge, is from the love into which he is born; and when he confirms these evils in himself, and thereby makes them allowable, then, from the enjoyment of the love of them, he as it were freely in accordance with reason thinks and wills them, and, so far as civil laws do not prevent, speaks and acts accordingly. It is from the Lord's Divine providence that man is permitted to do this, because he has freedom or liberty. Man is in this kind of freedom by nature, because of inheritance; and all those are in it who by means of reasonings have confirmed it in themselves from the enjoyment of love of self and the world.
[5] Rational freedom is from the love of reputation with a view to honor or gain. The enjoyment of this love lies in appearing externally as a moral man; and because man loves such a reputation, he does not defraud, commit adultery, take revenge, or blaspheme; and because he makes this a matter of reason, he acts from freedom in accordance with his reason in sincere, just, chaste, and friendly ways; and furthermore, from this reason he can advocate such conduct. But if his rational is merely natural and not also spiritual, such freedom is merely external freedom, not internal freedom; for he does not love these goods in the least inwardly, but only outwardly for the sake of his reputation, as has been said, and for this reason the good deeds that he does are not in themselves good. He may even assert that these things ought to be done for the public welfare; but this he says not from any love for the public welfare, but from a love for his own honor or gain. His freedom, therefore, derives nothing from a love for the public welfare, neither does his reason, since this assents to his love. Consequently, this rational freedom is a more internal natural freedom. This freedom, too, by the Lord's Divine providence remains with every one.
[6] Spiritual freedom is from a love for eternal life. Into that love and its enjoyment no one comes except he that thinks evils to be sins and in consequence does not will them, and at the same time looks to the Lord. As soon as one does this he is in that freedom. For one's ability not to will evils because they are sins, and not to do them for that reason, comes from the more internal or higher freedom which is from his more internal or higher love. At first such a freedom does not seem to be freedom, and yet it is; and afterwards it so appears, and then man acts from freedom itself, in accordance with reason itself, in thinking, willing, speaking, and doing what is good and true. This freedom increases as natural freedom decreases and becomes subservient; and it conjoins itself With rational freedom and purifies it.
[7] Any one may come into this freedom if he is but willing to think that life is eternal, and that the temporary enjoyment and bliss of life in time are but as a fleeting shadow, compared with the never ending enjoyment and bliss of a life in eternity; and this a man can think if he wishes, because he has rationality and liberty, and because the Lord, from whom these two faculties are derived, continually gives the ability.
73. I. Quod homini Ratio et Liberum sit, seu Rationalitas et Libertas: et quod binae illae facultates sint a Domino apud hominem. Quod homini sit facultas intelligendi, quae est Rationalitas, ac facultas cogitandi, volendi, loquendi et faciendi id quod intelligit, quae est Libertas; et quod binae illae facultates sint a Domino apud hominem, in Transactione de DIVINO AMORE ET DIVINA SAPIENTIA 264-270, 425 1, et quoque supra, 43, 44, actum est. Sed quia plura dubia de utraque illa Facultate incidere possunt, cum de illis cogitatur, volo in hoc limine solum aliquid de Libero agendi secundum rationem apud hominem tradere.
[2] Sed primum sciendum est, quod omne Liberum sit amoris, adeo ut amor et liberum unum sint; et quia amor est vita hominis, est quoque Liberum vitae ejus; omne enim 2jucundum, quod est homini, est ex amore ejus; non aliunde datur aliquod jucundum, et ex jucundo amoris agere est ex libero, nam jucundum ducit hominem sicut flumen id quod fertur ex se secundum venam ejus. Nunc quia Amores sunt plures, quidam concordantes, et quidam discordantes, sequitur quod Libera similiter plura sint: sed in genere dantur tria Libera; Naturale, Rationale, et Spirituale.
[3] LIBERUM NATURALE est cuivis homini ex haereditate; ex hoc homo non amat aliud quam se et mundum; ejus prima vita non aliud est; et quia omnia mala ex binis illis amoribus existunt, et inde mala etiam fiunt amoris, sequitur quod mala cogitare et velle, sit Liberum naturale ejus; et cum illa apud se per ratiocinia confirmavit, quod ex libero 3secundum rationem suam illa agat: ita facere est ex facultate ejus quae vocatur Libertas; et illa confirmare est ex facultate ejus quae vocatur Rationalitas.
[4] Ut pro exemplo; ex amore hominis, in quem nascitur, est quod velit adulterari, defraudare, blasphemare, vindicare; et cum haec mala apud se confirmat, et illa per id facit licita, tunc illa ex jucundo amoris illorum libere quasi secundum rationem cogitat et vult, et quantum leges civiles non retinent, loquitur et facit: ex Divina Domini Providentia est, ut liceat homini ita agere, quia liberum seu Libertas ei est. In hoc Libero est homo a natura, quia ex haereditate; et in hoc Libero sunt illi qui id apud se ex jucundo amoris sui et mundi per ratiocinationes confirmaverunt.
[5] LIBERUM RATIONALE est ex amore famae propter 4honorem aut propter lucrum; jucundum illius amoris est apparere in externa forma sicut homo moralis; et quia amat hanc famam, non defraudat, non adulteratur, non vindicat, non blasphemat; et quia haec facit rationis suae, etiam ex libero secundum rationem suam agit sincerum, justum, castum, amicum; imo potest ex ratione bene loqui pro illis: sed si rationale ejus est solum naturale, et non simul spirituale, est Liberum illud modo liberum externum, non autem liberum internum, nam nihilominus 5interius non amat illa bona, sed modo exterius propter famam, ut dictum est; quare bona quae facit, non in se bona sunt: potest etiam dicere, quod facienda sint propter bonum publicum, sed hoc non dicit ex amore boni publici, sed ex amore sui honoris aut lucri; ideo liberum ejus nihil trahit ex amore boni publici, nec ratio, quia haec assentitur amori: quare hoc Liberum rationale est interius Liberum naturale. Hoc Liberum etiam ex Divina Domini Providentia cuivis relinquitur.
[6] LIBERUM SPIRITUALE est ex amore vitae aeternae; in illum amorem et ejus jucundum 6non alius venit, quam qui cogitat mala esse peccata, et ideo non vult illa, et simul spectat ad Dominum: ut primum homo hoc facit, in libero illo est; nam nemo potest non velle mala quia peccata sunt, et ideo non facere illa, nisi sit ex interiori seu superiori Libero, quod est ex interiori seu superiori amore ejus. Hoc Liberum non apparet in principio ut liberum, sed usque est, at postea apparet, et tunc ex ipso libero secundum ipsam rationem agit, cogitando, volendo, loquendo et faciendo bonum et verum. Hoc Liberum crescit, sicut liberum naturale decrescit et fit servum, et conjungit se cum Libero rationali, et hoc purificat.
[7] Quisque in hoc Liberum venire potest, modo velit cogitare quod Vita aeterna sit, et quod jucundum et beatum vitae in tempore ad tempus, non sit nisi sicut umbra pertransiens ad jucundum et beatum vitae in aeterno in aeternum; et hoc potest homo cogitare si vult, quia ei Rationalitas et Libertas est, et quia Dominus, ex quo binae hae facultates sunt, continue dat ut possit.
Footnotes:
1 Prima editio: 425:
2 Prima editio: enlm
3 Prima editio: libeto
4 Prima editio: prupter
5 Prima editio: niholominus
6 Prima editio: jucuudum