"Many estates": The freedom we don't want to losetranslated

Christ's meeting with the rich young man is one of the most disturbing passages of the Gospel, because it hardly allows man to be satisfied with himself. The young man is not presented as corrupt or indifferent to God. He knows the commandments and declares that he keeps them. And yet he feels that something is missing. "What if I'm behind?" he asks.

By Petros D. Damianou (Dr. of Philosophy – NTUA Teaching Staff)

Christ's answer is absolute: "If you want to be perfect, sell your possessions and give to the poor... and follow me."

He doesn't tell him to give whatever is left over. It does not offer him a more generous version of the same life. He is asking him to let go of the very thing on which he rests. And the young man "went away sorrowful; for he had many estates".

The "many estates" are literally his property. But they can become for the modern man an image of what he loves so much that he can no longer imagine his life without them. Things that give him security, pleasure, recognition, social status or a sense of control over his life.

Each era has its own "many estates".

In our time it's not just about money. It could be the…