God is not free to act; He is bound by human ethics. To be just, He must create an individual of perfect intellect and infallible morality. People are obligated to submit to this person; otherwise eternal damnation awaits them. While these claims may be interpreted as an affront to God's power, an insult to human judgment and a justification for despotism, Shi'i Muslims in the eleventh century eagerly adopted them in their attempts to forge a 'rational' religious discourse. They utilized everything from literary studies and political theory to natural philosophy and metaphysical...
God is not free to act; He is bound by human ethics. To be just, He must create an individual of perfect intellect and infallible morality. People are...