"It would be lethal if today’s European culture could see freedom just as a total lack of any ties, and in this way it would inevitably promote fanaticism and free will. The lack of ties and free will are not freedom, but the destruction of freedom". This was explained by the Pope, who, in his speech to the world of culture, mentioned Saint Paul’s writings (in particular 2 Cor 3, 17) to show how "the word on the Spirit and on freedom opens up a wide horizon, but at the same time places a clear limit on free will and subjectivity". According to Benedict XVI, "Christianity is not simply a religion of the book", because "it perceives the Word, the Logos itself, among the words": this "particular structure" of the Bible, which "is an ever-new challenge for every generation", "rules out anything that is now called fundamentalism". "The Spirit is Christ, and Christ is the Lord who points out the way to us", added Benedict XVI, who said "this tension between ties and freedom, which goes well beyond the literary problem of the interpretation of the Scripture, has also determined the thought and work of monasticism and has deeply shaped the Western culture. It he went on is once again, for our generation, a challenge in front of the poles of subjective free will on one side, and fundamentalist fanaticism on the other side". (continued)
