Plantinga

• Plantinga's views on the Free Will Defence

  • If free will exists then so does evil and suffering
  • God cannot create us with free will and choose only good - logically impossible
  • No problems as humans are free
• God allowed evil to exist because...

  1. Plantinga's 3 worlds: the first one the only world which makes sense
  2. Natural evil: part of Adam and Eve's punishment for disobeying God
• Strengths

  • Points logically possible to refute Mackie
  • Logically impossible to have free will and only do good
  • A world with free will is more worthwhile than a world without it
  • Natural evils can bring about second order goods
• Weaknesses

  • Points not necessarily true but just possible
  • The volume of evil and evidence too great which has to challenge God (evidential problem of evil)