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Moral Evil Vs Free Will

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The argument of evil and free will has been an atheistic argument for a while now. Questioning the existence of a God because of the evil in the world and if it is because of our free will that evil exists. Atheists do not believe in God, according to their argument, if God is omniscient, omnipotent, and benevolent then there should be no evil. They argue that if God was omnipotent he would be able to rid the world of evil. If God was omniscient, he would know how to rid the world of evil. If God was omnibenevolent, he would not want there to be evil so he would rid the world of all evil if he knew how and wanted to rid the world of it. This argument possesses a valid point on how an all knowing, all powerful and loving God evil should not …show more content…

When arguing over free will one must really understand that there are two types of evil in the world, moral and natural evil. The distinction between Moral evil and Nature evil is pretty clear. Moral evil is seen as an evil that is committed by those with free will, evil we create. Evils of the moral nature are murder, theft, discrimination, genocide and more acts that are deemed immoral un unacceptable by society. Natural evil is much different. It involves events that occur in the natural sense. Tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and earthquakes and the contracting of a disease or sickness are examples of a natural evil, an event that we do not have control of which are considered acts of God. The free will defense is a defense concerning the Moral evil in the world. Majority of the evil present in this world is evil created by man, who acts out his evil on his fellow man. When making the world and man, he gave them free will, the ability to make their own decisions and choices in life. The consequence of giving man free will is the abuse of free will by doing wrong and unleashing evil. A God that is indeed a Loving God would not interfere with free will, even if …show more content…

And such a God would not create evil or create beings that would bring evil into the world he created. God being a perfect God would have created a perfect world. Evil is brought on by the abuse of free will. If this kind of God exists he knows how, wants to, and would prevent all evil in the world. If such a God existed, he would prevent and protecting the world from evil. According to the Atheist’s beliefs, because there is evil in the world there is no God. The Free will defense is only half of the solution to the problem of evil. Mainly because it is the only thing directly responsible for moral evil present in the world. With free will being present in man, there is the possibility of evil being present. Yet, free will is not the only contribution to the evil in the world. In the terms of natural evil, man does not control his environment or the diseases that are ever present in the world that creates human

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Peter van Inwagen argument entitled “Free Will Defense,” is a theodicy because it attempts to show why God would allow evil in the world as opposed to a defense which would try to explain, logically, how evil could exist in the world with an all-loving an all-powerful God. Peter van Inwagen purposed that, yes, God is all-loving and all-powerful, and because he is all-loving, he allows for humans to make their own decisions even if these decisions lead to evil and pain. I find this to be an extremely satisfying response. It is very plausible that an all-powerful being could and would, in some way, relinquish control as a way to show and practice his love. Autonomy is good, granting free will results in autonomy, therefore granting free will

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However, how does God play into this argument? Because He is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent – how does that reconcile with our free will? One of the ways that free will and God’s omniscience coexist is through our ability to sin. As human beings, we are sinful.

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Whilst, this paradox intends to remove the relation between God and evil, placing the responsibility in the hands of something independent from God, it fails to successfully do so. This is because if God is omnipotent, then he is all-powerful. If God is all-powerful, then his power should not be contested by limitations. Therefore, if he fails to control human free will, then he fails to be omnipotent and thus, inconsistency is found between the premises from the Problem of Evil. Continually, if free will is controlled, it is not free will at all and therefore, God is wholly responsible for the evil in the world.

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Questioning if God is not omnipotent, the entire idea of God creating the world can be called into question. Another issue is that if it is said that God is no longer entirely good there is the possibility to say that God has evil or bad intentions, and we should denounce him. Lastly, if one says that evil does not exist, then there is no possible way to separate those people who are considered to be deviants of society. This would mean that those who commit crimes that are evil in nature like murder and rape would be considered to be normal and acceptable.

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There are two main ways in which natural evil operates to give humans those choices. First of all, natural evil provides chance for humans to learn how to bring the evil. For example, I can choose to ignore my sick friends instead of showing compassion towards the sufferer. If I get sick, I can either choose to spread it to others or subdue to disease and prevent it from spreading. Humans have the free will to choose to be good or evil.

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“The Problem of Evil” is simply the question, why does God allow evil to happen? God is omnipotent, omniscient, all-loving, and rational, therefore why does evil exist? There is either no God or he is not what we think he is, since evil could be prevented by him with no risk. Atheists and anti-theodicist see a problem with the idea that God could prevent evil. They believe that because God is so powerful and perfect, that he would not allow such immoral actions to be done.

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Humans have free will because in the everyday lives on an individual they are presented with multiple choices, none of which render the need for a divine power. Saint Augustine states this in the text that individuals are aware of the presence of God, but know they can voluntarily act on the own choices. However, God has the power of foreknowledge. This is because the Lord created everything, meaning he must be aware of what is yet to happen. Augustine again asserts in Book V that God cannot exist without the ability for him to know the future.

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