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Consider How Far Free Will Is a Satisfactory Explanation for the Existence of Evil in a World Created by God

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Consider how far free will is a satisfactory explanation for the existence of evil in a world created by God

To a certain extent the concept of free will is indeed a satisfactory explanation for the existence of evil in a world created by God. John Hick, in his book, Evil and The God of Love - states that God gave us free will to develop and become perfect. Hick argues that we are born as immature and imperfect, therefore we develop virtues in order to become more in God’s likeness; we develop these virtues by suffering. This suffering therefore is caused by pain, so arguably evil is the cause of our developing characteristics that enable us to reach heaven and to become one with God. Furthermore, Augustine puts forward the argument that evil is the result of human free will, and not God’s own doing. Augustine sheds light on The Fall,where it is stated that God gave Adam and Eve free will. However, they chose to abuse this, as they supposedly ate the forbidden fruit. Thus, resulting in the ‘lapse’ of mankind. However, if God had not permitted the possibility of evil, as humans we would be restricted to have free will. Catastrophic events such as the Holocaust show clear indications of evil on large scales, caused by arguably human misuse of free will decision making. If God were to stop such events, he would arguably be having to choose and draw lines between different occurrences of evil, such as larger scale events as opposed to an individual murder. God cannot be said to be responsible for evil in some respects, as it can be said that evil is simply humanities misuse of free will - as to which has been granted to us. In the parable of the king and the peasant girl, Kierkegaard explained the relationship between humans, God and free will. In this case, the King did not force the peasant girl, whom represents humanity, to love him; just as God doesn't force

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