Dear Editor:
We are familiar with this quote: "You shall know truth, and truth shall make you free!" It is incomplete! What Our Lord said was: "If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. And you shall know truth and truth shall make you free!"
The distinction is important. Knowledge is not power. Right knowledge does not necessarily lead to right action. Mere knowledge of truth, any truth at all, does not make men free. It is truth which makes men free. And truth is not a matter of knowledge, but is achieved by continuing in Our Lord’s Word as His disciples; 1, by acknowledging His Divine Human, and 2, by living according to His Precepts (as they are made known in Scripture which is Divine Revelation!)
It is a fact that until men know truth about a given situation or course of conduct they are not "in freedom" to make a decision that is rational! So it is a misinterpretation of teaching or doctrine, one to which we are easily prone, to suppose that those who are doing evil in ignorance of true facts should be left "in freedom" to continue in their evil. That is not to leave them "in freedom" but to keep them in ignorance! Rather, if it is possible, should they be put "in freedom" by being acquainted with facts and truths, that equips them to make rational decisions!
If this is done, and if no pressure is then brought to bear upon them that might force a decision, then freedom into which they have been introduced is preserved. They will accept or reject, but they may now know what they are doing.
Any questions?
John Sabol