Problem of Evil - free will defence

Question 1

The argument

Answer 1

Free will is an essential part of humanity, without which we would be mere robots, this explains why free will is sufficiently important to be worth the risk of evil.

Question 2

Genuine free will

Answer 2

Genuine free will requires the genuine possibility of evil, so that if God removed this possibility He would have taken away our free will.

Question 3

Moral evil

Answer 3

When this occurs, it is because humans have misused their God-given freedom.

Question 4

Combating the problem of evil

Answer 4

Attempts to do this by rationalizing that evil is the result of human action and therefore God is not accountable.

Question 5

Kierkegaard’s parable of the king and peasant girl

Answer 5

Supports the FWD. The king represents God, and the peasant girl, humanity. King falls in love with girl, he forces her into marriage, but by doing this he would never be sure of her love, So he decides to go work and live as a peasant, only then will he be sure of her love.

Question 6

Swinburne’s support for free will

Answer 6

The reason why God cannot intervene to stop suffering is that it would jeopardise human free will and take away the need for responsibility and development.

Question 7

Swinburne quote

Answer 7

“The less he allows men to bring about large scale horrors, the less the freedom and responsibility he gives them”.