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Full Idea
If sin doth not consist of purely physical actions, the making God a cause of all such actions, is not making him the author of sin.
Gist of Idea
If sin is not just physical, we don't consider God the origin of sin because he causes physical events
Source
George Berkeley (Three Dialogues of Hylas and Philonous [1713], III p.227)
Book Ref
Berkeley,George: 'The Principles of Human Knowledge etc.', ed/tr. Warnock,G.J. [Fontana 1962], p.227
A Reaction
An equivocation. If responsibility resides in consciousness, God is presumably conscious, and we can judge the events he causes.
| 2120 | God is responsible for the good things, but we must look elsewhere for the cause of the bad things [Plato] |
| 24237 | The divine organiser of the world wanted it to have as little imperfection as possible [Plato] |
| 21404 | There is a rationale in terrible disasters; they are useful to the whole, and make good possible [Chrysippus] |
| 1893 | If God foresaw evil he would presumably prevent it, and if he only foresees some things, why those things? [Sext.Empiricus] |
| 2281 | If we ask whether God's works are perfect, we must not take a narrow viewpoint, but look at the universe as a whole [Descartes] |
| 3955 | If sin is not just physical, we don't consider God the origin of sin because he causes physical events [Berkeley] |
| 21328 | Killing is a human crime, but nature kills everyone, and often with great tortures [Mill] |
| 21329 | Nature dispenses cruelty with no concern for either mercy or justice [Mill] |
| 21331 | Hurricanes, locusts, floods and blight can starve a million people to death [Mill] |
| 21330 | Nature makes childbirth a miserable experience, often leading to the death of the mother [Mill] |
| 24187 | Without worldly affliction, we'd think this is paradise [Weil] |
| 1475 | It is logically possible that natural evil like earthquakes is caused by Satan [Plantinga, by PG] |