The Quarterly Journal of St. Philaret’s Institute

This article aims to investigate Theodore of Mopsuestia’s theology of freedom, which still awaits research in Russia and beyond. The article consists of three sections dedicated to the three aspects of his understanding of freedom: freedom of choice, freedom as following God’s commandments, and freedom as confidence before God. The first section deals with the freedom of choice between good and evil which is a foundation of human rationality. Theodore considers this age as a school of virtue and describes it in terms of the divine paideia. Created mortal and mutable, a human being can learn virtue through the resistance to bodily passions and following God’s commandments and thus foretaste the life of the future age. The second section is dedicated to the notion of freedom as the condition of heavenly life that believers should imitate here and now by following God’s will. The third section examines the notion of freedom as the gift of baptism that makes the baptized participate in Christ’s kingdom as His soldier and friend who is privileged to have confidence before him. Despite the condemnation of Theodore of Mopsuestia at the Fifth Ecumenical Council, this article proposes to use some of his ideas that were not condemned in pastoral and catechetical practice. Theodore’s teaching about freedom as what makes a person human and about this age as a school of virtue, where students inevitably make mistakes, can inspire a vision of God as merciful and patient and have a positive impact on overcoming the neurotic fear of the image of a punishing God, as well as learning to set realistic goals for the spiritual development of everyone.