Free Will defence

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Created by
Mariam Adnan

Cards (16)

  • The free will defence is rooted in the idea of God creating humans with free will
  • According to traditional Christian teaching, all suffering comes from the story of the first sin, committed by 'Adam and Eve' in the Garden of Eden
  • The story presents a vision of a perfect world, free from suffering, evil and even death
  • The Fall of Mankind in Genesis

    1. Adam and Eve disobey God by eating from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
    2. God punishes Adam, Eve and the serpent for their disobedience
  • Some Christians believe that this resulted in sin coming to Earth
  • It was not God's doing, because we brought evil and suffering upon ourselves due to our disobedience
  • All through the Bible, God tries to get the relationship between him and his creation right again
  • It might seem a little unfair to blame God for the existence of suffering and evil, or to use suffering and evil as a challenge against
  • Free Will Defence Argument
    1. For God, freedom is one of the most important gifts He gives to his creation
    2. Freedom means we can choose whatever we want to do... freely
    3. If God did not allow us this freedom, then we would just be robots, doing what He wants and nothing else... quite a pointless existence
    4. This freedom can lead to good or bad choices
    5. God MUST allow the consequences of our free will to take place because if He does not then we're not really free
    6. Even if God does not like the consequences of our free choices, He has to let them happen to protect our freedom - that's the price He and us pay
  • Evil and suffering have to exist if we are to be free
  • We all know that if we choose an action we have to live with it and its consequences, that is what freewill is all about
  • Bad consequences are built into the system, they are the price we pay for being completely free
  • Whether the fall is a symbolic story or a real event it does prevent some problems
  • Perhaps if there had been no smooth-talking serpent then they might never have disobeyed God
  • The existence of suffering and evil

    Causes moral issues for God's existence
  • The existence of suffering and evil
    Raises questions about the consistency of an all powerful and all-loving God