Condignity and Congruity
It looks like I will need to take the leap into moral theology after all. I can't connect all the dots yet, at least not as clearly as I'd like (I don't even know which 'dots' I want to focus on yet). But the old Scholastic theological debate on condignity and congruity offers at least some family resemblances to the juridical form that Grotius will later provide, so it is probably a worthwhile area for some research. It seems Thomas, Scotus, and Henry of Ghent will be the points of entry. Any other suggestions? What does this have to do with rights? The theologians' unsettling question may go like this: Can you demand of God the divine rewards of heaven? Do you have a 'right' to enter heaven, based on your merits? For the Reformers, this couldn't be correct - it's too transactional; it burdens God with obligations and potentially even exposes God to the sin of Acceptio Personarum, i.e., failing to reward the worthy (as corrupt princes do
