What was one of the problems with the free will defense?

There are also two objections to the idea that free will can explain enough evil: [3] Suppose that free will is compatible with divine foreknowledge, and incompatible with determinism. Still, free will, even if it is a good thing, is not good enough to justify all the evil in the world that results from it.

Is free will defense a theodicy?

Both the accidental and essential forms of the free will defense posit a theodicy that reinterprets the concept of divine omnipotence in light of creaturely freedom.

Why does the free will defense not work?

L. Mackie has presented the objection that God, being omnipotent and omnibenevolent, would easily be able to create the best of all possible worlds. He reasons that such a world would be one in which all humans use their free will only for good – something they do not do. Hence, the free-will defense fails.

Can evil exist without free will?

God allows evil for the sake of our free will. Free will is a great good, and it is impossible for God to give us free will without allowing evil. So, God allows evil to exist. It is obviously a crucial part of this objection that it is impossible for God to both give us free will and prevent any evil from occurring.

How is Augustine’s free will theodicy challenged?

Augustine’s theodicy, in my view, can be challenged on at least three different grounds, which I briefly list here, and subsequently illustrate in great detail in the course of my discussion. 1: My first contention is that it would seem that a perfect entity like Augustine’s God does not have reason to create anything at all.

Why does the free will defense fail the argument from evil?

But Weisberger argues that Dore’s solution also fails because the existence of free will in no way necessitates either the human capacity to act wrongly or the excessive amount of moral evil we actually find in the world. Weisberger concludes that the free will defense utterly fails to undermine the argument from evil.

Why are humans not able to have free will?

For any given instant in time, humans lack the ability to control the previous state of the universe. Humans lack the ability to control the laws of physics. Therefore, humans are unable to control any future state of the universe. And because humans cannot control any future state of the universe, humans cannot have free will.

What is the Christian Reply to the Theodicy Problem?

To summarize, then, the Christian reply to the theodicy problem may take the following form: God valued moral autonomy so highly that he created Adam and Eve in spite of knowing that they would choose evil.