EleutherIA — Defined term

Autexousion (Self-Determination)

αὐτεξούσιον

Roman Imperial to Patristic

Autexousios or autexousion denotes being under one's own authority or self-determining, with meaning that varies by context. It is not exclusively Christian: pagan authors such as Alexander of Aphrodisias use it in debates about what depends on us. Christian authors including Justin, Tatian, and Origen apply it to created rational agency, praise and blame, divine judgment, and the origin of evil, but their theories are not identical. The term does not by itself assert an uncaused or self-originating will, and any direct genealogy to Latin liberum arbitrium requires separate evidence.

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