Abstract
Abstract
Our parents and the State have significant rights to curtail many of our rights. God, as the ultimate source of everything good, has a far greater right to curtail our ordinary rights. However, the rights of parents and the State are subject to two restrictions—they must remain on balance our benefactors, and never impose harm on anyone unless it is necessary for their well-being or that of others. God’s rights are subject to the same restrictions. God can always satisfy the first restriction for someone whose life on earth is on balance bad, by giving them a good life after death; but the second restriction severely limits what he can do. Among the great goods of human life are that it is up to us by our choices whether others flourish or suffer, and that we form our own character; some of these choices are open both to those who can cause suffering and to those who suffer. Horrendous evils provide choices of enormous significance for humans.
Publisher
Oxford University PressOxford
Reference14 articles.
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