I posit that freedom must be uncreated to be authentic.
Uncreated signifies not divine in origin, meaning it does not emanate from God. Since God is not the source of freedom, he cannot create freedom “into” us or any other Being in Creation.
Declaring freedom to be a timeless and uncreated form, which is an eternal idea in the mind of God, and then stating that our participation in this uncreated form qualifies as uncreated seems like a bit of a stretch to me.
The distinction here is clear. God creates creatures, but their properties—all of their properties—are uncreated because all properties, including physical features like noses, are eternal forms in the mind of God.
The concept is known as divine exemplarism, which focuses on the metaphysics of universals. It asserts that everything in Creation originates from divine, eternal forms in God's mind. Thus, our freedom is based on an uncreated blueprint called “freedom” that God holds as an eternal idea.
First point, this does not make freedom uncreated in the way I understand it.
Freedom as an eternal form in God’s mind still makes God the source of freedom.
It matters little that this form in God’s mind is uncreated in the same way God is uncreated. He remains the origin of freedom by creating our capacity to be free agents.
Hence, freedom as an eternal form may be uncreated in the sense that God didn’t create it, but the idea is still God’s, meaning he is ultimately the source of that uncreated idea.
Second point, a blueprint is only good if it leads to creation. An eternal property or form or universal or whatever in God’s mind may be eternal and uncreated, but what he constructs from these divine blueprints is definitely created; otherwise, there would be nothing we could call Creation.
There may be an uncreated blueprint in the mind of God for a nose, but my actual nose, the tip of which I see every day when I stare out upon the world, is created. It may be based on an uncreated eternal idea or blueprint, but it is not uncreated and eternal.
The same applies to freedom. The freedom I experience may be based on an eternal, uncreated idea in the mind of God, but once God creates my freedom, that freedom becomes created, even if it is based on something uncreated.
If freedom is an eternal idea in God’s mind, then God is the source of freedom.
An eternal idea or form may be uncreated, but once God creates from it, the thing he creates is a created thing. The properties may not be created, but the thing the properties comprise is certainly created.
Freedom as an eternal, universal form may be uncreated, but the specific, individual capacity for freedom or to participate in freedom that God creates into a creature cannot be anything but created.
In classical/orthodox metaphysics, only God—including his essence, ideas, etc.—is uncreated. Everything else is contingent and created, including the freedom creatures experience.
In classical/orthodox metaphysics, the existence of freedom—and everything else for that matter—depends entirely on God.
Without God, I would have no freedom of my own of which to speak. The only freedom I can enjoy is the freedom God grants me, allows me to participate in, or creates "into" me.
None of that has anything to do with uncreated freedom, at least not as I regard it.
Uncreated signifies not divine in origin, meaning it does not emanate from God. Since God is not the source of freedom, he cannot create freedom “into” us or any other Being in Creation.
Declaring freedom to be a timeless and uncreated form, which is an eternal idea in the mind of God, and then stating that our participation in this uncreated form qualifies as uncreated seems like a bit of a stretch to me.
The distinction here is clear. God creates creatures, but their properties—all of their properties—are uncreated because all properties, including physical features like noses, are eternal forms in the mind of God.
The concept is known as divine exemplarism, which focuses on the metaphysics of universals. It asserts that everything in Creation originates from divine, eternal forms in God's mind. Thus, our freedom is based on an uncreated blueprint called “freedom” that God holds as an eternal idea.
First point, this does not make freedom uncreated in the way I understand it.
Freedom as an eternal form in God’s mind still makes God the source of freedom.
It matters little that this form in God’s mind is uncreated in the same way God is uncreated. He remains the origin of freedom by creating our capacity to be free agents.
Hence, freedom as an eternal form may be uncreated in the sense that God didn’t create it, but the idea is still God’s, meaning he is ultimately the source of that uncreated idea.
Second point, a blueprint is only good if it leads to creation. An eternal property or form or universal or whatever in God’s mind may be eternal and uncreated, but what he constructs from these divine blueprints is definitely created; otherwise, there would be nothing we could call Creation.
There may be an uncreated blueprint in the mind of God for a nose, but my actual nose, the tip of which I see every day when I stare out upon the world, is created. It may be based on an uncreated eternal idea or blueprint, but it is not uncreated and eternal.
The same applies to freedom. The freedom I experience may be based on an eternal, uncreated idea in the mind of God, but once God creates my freedom, that freedom becomes created, even if it is based on something uncreated.
If freedom is an eternal idea in God’s mind, then God is the source of freedom.
An eternal idea or form may be uncreated, but once God creates from it, the thing he creates is a created thing. The properties may not be created, but the thing the properties comprise is certainly created.
Freedom as an eternal, universal form may be uncreated, but the specific, individual capacity for freedom or to participate in freedom that God creates into a creature cannot be anything but created.
In classical/orthodox metaphysics, only God—including his essence, ideas, etc.—is uncreated. Everything else is contingent and created, including the freedom creatures experience.
In classical/orthodox metaphysics, the existence of freedom—and everything else for that matter—depends entirely on God.
Without God, I would have no freedom of my own of which to speak. The only freedom I can enjoy is the freedom God grants me, allows me to participate in, or creates "into" me.
None of that has anything to do with uncreated freedom, at least not as I regard it.
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