Free Will Theodicy: The Distinction Between Good And Evil

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A theodicy is a theist’s response to explain why a moral God created a world in which evil exists. These theorists try to rationalize why a morally good God created a world that contains evil and how evil can exist in God’s world. A theodicy justifies the evil in a world by describing how it is the result of some good that makes the world better than it otherwise would have been. This allows there to be a distinction between what is good and evil. A theodicy is a consistent account for why evil exists in God’s world and does not have to be true or even plausible. An example of a theodicy is the Free Will Theodicy. The Free Will Theodicy explains that the presence of evil is the result of the freedom of choice: humans have the freedom…show more content…
In regards to the Free Will Theodicy, this type of world cannot exist. The Free Will Theodicy explicitly states that the evil in the world is the result of the free will of humans. The Free Will Theodicy states that the evil in the world is necessary, if humans are given free will. In Gretchen’s proposed world there would be no evil, but there would still be free will. According to the Free Will Theodicy, this type of world cannot exist because if there is free will present in the world it has to be paired with a necessary evil. This proposed world does not have the combination of free will with the necessary evil that comes with it and suggests that this combination claim made by the Free Will Theodicy is ultimately…show more content…
David Cohen replies to this objection by stating that if Gretchen were given the option of having a T-bone steak or a spinach soufflé for dinner, she would ultimately choose the T-bone steak. He claims that anyone that knows Gretchen could have certainly predicted the outcome, but that has nothing to do with her free will. Although anyone would have known that Gretchen would pick the steak, she still freely was able to decide for herself. Cohen’s knowledge or lack of knowledge had nothing to do with Gretchen’s choice. Gretchen replies to this response by stating that the claim isn’t consistent because Cohen knows that she is going to choose the steak and this causes her not to choose freely. Gretchen begins to refer to how God’s knowledge is not like that of Sam’s or David’s. God has a special type of knowledge because of his power. Unlike Cohen, God’s knowledge of Gretchen’s actions did not come from years of knowing each other or experience, it came because God was the being that created Gretchen. Gretchen claims that God knew what type of person Gretchen would be from the moment that he created her. If you trace every action back to the root cause, it is apparent that God is the reason for all of Gretchen’s actions. God’s omniscience allows him to have the ability to know
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