Could you address the way that "goodness", or "good", is a manifestation of freedom?
I'm obviously reading between the lines here. But... (52:20)
I would say the way most folks today think of freedom is being able to choose without being compelled in making that choice. In other words, my choice is free if it comes solely from the impulse of my will. The usual account is referred to as libertarian freedom, which says my choice is free if I could have chosen otherwise. The account assumes that I am free if and only if in a given state of affairs (which includes one's thought process), if I chose x, under that exact same state of affairs (including the same thought process), I could have chosen y.
There are a number of problems with this account. 1. Although it has some intuitive appeal, it is absolutely not an account that can be proven for the simple fact that no two states of affairs are exactly alike. 2. Assuming for the sake of argument that I do experience the exact same state of affairs, including the same thought process, and I choose y instead of x (i.e., I choose otherwise) then my choice is arbitrary since it is not connected to a reasoned process aimed at some end (this is assuming my first choice of x was based in some reason). This is the case because my thought process is exactly the same but I have chosen otherwise. Why? There is no answer, I have simply chosen otherwise. And, therein lies the problem. Free choices are not arbitrary, they are connected to reasons aimed at some end.
I would argue further that a truly free choice is not only based in some reason aimed at some end (goal or purpose), but a truly free choice is aimed at a truly good end (goal or purpose). This is where a Christian account of freedom cannot be fully captured by the libertarian freedom account. And this is why I am constantly saying that our ability to choose evil is not some great good that God values.
Yes, we have been created with the ability to choose between good and evil. But that is not the goal. The goal is true freedom whereby we only choose good and never evil. That is the great good God values and that is the telos (end) that God is bringing us toward. This is why Irenaeus's account of Genesis makes the most sense, i.e. Adam and Eve in their spiritual immaturity chose evil instead of good because they were decieved. Thus life is a process where, by grace we are brought from spiritual immaturity (we come into the world not only physically immature but spiritually immature and must learn spiritually maturity by grace and the Holy Spirit)...we are brought from spiritual immaturity to spiritual maturity as we are transformed into the image of Christ who chose the good for all humanity even in the face of great suffering, sorrow, and death because of the joy set before him.
The early Christian proponents of Universal Restoration understood that true freedom occurs when we rationally choose what is truly good, and specifically choose our ultimate Good, i.e. God. Our willingness to choose evil is rooted in our ability to rationally choose good, but it's a distortion or illness whereby we choose evil because it seems good to us, pace Adam and Eve, and once we realize our error we are enslaved and cannot free ourselves. This is why they see punishment not as retribution for the misuse of free will but as healing from a will that is a dis-ability.
Our spiritual immaturity in self-seeking and sin is a sick or malformed will. This is simply part of the human condition. We were created, like Adam and Eve, to go through the process of becoming like Christ, which is the fulfillment of the image in which we are created.
If we are free in Christ we are free indeed. Ideally, we would enter the healing/maturity process now by grace and the Holy Spirit made available through Christ, and our vocation as ministers (servants) of Christ's ministry of reconciliation is to share the good news that God's help has come to heal us from enslavement to sin- to heal us from willingly choosing evil, which is to choose against our own good. In other words, we are called to willingly seek and help others seek their ultimate Good-union and love with God and neighbor.
But God is not going to abandon one sheep to the misery of their sinful condition. If it takes eons and eons, God will succeed in liberating all of humanity from their enslavement to sin and death. For some, that will be a very painful experience in their unwillingness to turn from evil, but God will not give up. The moment they turn toward the good (repentance), which is always in their ability, God will start applying the healing balm of Christ who took on their nature so they could become like him. That is the good news of God's unrelenting love that the early Christians who held to Universal Reconciliation were proclaiming. And,, it is the good news I have come to believe. Praise be to our Lord, Jesus Christ