Objection · Case 06 · Problem of Evil
The free will defense does nothing about natural evil, disease, earthquakes, animal suffering, none of which involves human choice. Isn’t this a narrow win?
One objection from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
Response
It is a narrow win on purpose. The logical problem claimed a flat contradiction, and defeating that needs only one coherent possibility. Natural evil is real and is handled under the evidential problem, where theists appeal to a world of stable law, the effects of the fall, or reasons beyond our sight. The point here is only that the strongest version, the claim that evil disproves God outright, does not hold. The serious conversation is the evidential one.
About this exhibit
This objection is to Plantinga’s free will defense and Mackie’s concession.
Plantinga argued that if free will is a genuine good, God’s power does not extend to making people freely do only right, since forced goodness is not free. That one possibility breaks the claimed…
Under Claim 07: The logical problem of evil, the claim that God and evil cannot both exist, is now widely regarded as answered.