ABSTRACT
Jonathan Edwards was explicitly committed to the position that there is a best possible world and (at least implicitly) to the claim that God must create it. God chooses from among the "infinity of possible universes," the universe which exhibits the greatest good. "His wisdom makes it known to God, his goodness makes him choose it, and his power makes him produce it". God has created the best possible world, it is also a worse possible world. Leibniz believed that God's choices are "constrained" by the laws of logic and by equally necessary principles of value. God is infinitely wise and perfectly good. He is also the world's universal magistrate or "moral rector" and therefore does not lack the appropriate authority. According to Edwards, hell is an essential part of the great good obtained by God's permission of evil.
