As part of the “The Church and the Law,” interview series, Iravaban.net spoke with Father Tigran Badiryan, the head of the church-community office of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, on the topic “The Concept of Freedom in Christianity.”

According to him, freedom is one of the central themes of Christian life and Christian theology, and is an important part of faith.

“When we talk about freedom, we must be able to divide this freedom into two parts: human freedom and God’s freedom. Absolute freedom—without any limits, without any conditionality—only God has and can have. That is, only God acts with absolutely free will. The uniqueness of Christianity is precisely that God, driven by love, sacrificed Himself for people with His absolutely free will. There is no other religion whose idea is this. It is by His will that God, by descending among people, limits Himself,” said the clergyman.

Father Tigran emphasizes that human freedom stems from God, meaning it is already conditional and already limited.

“Our freedom is exactly as much as our appetite is, meaning as much as we want to do something, because the more you want to do, the more you encounter the limitations of your freedom. A person must be the decision-maker and the one responsible for their own actions. For us Christians, the greatest law is the law of God’s love, which is not a written obligation, but grace from our Lord. The role of the church, spiritual life, and values is more than the physical conditions of prison and other legal aspects. The individual will answer for the exercise of their freedom,” said the clergyman.

According to him, freedom begins at the moment when a person understands that they have the image and likeness of God within them, that they are the only creature in the entire universe that can act without a cause-and-effect relationship.

Details in  the video․