Free Will And Our Bad Choices

Why Does God Allow Us To Make Bad Choices?

So far, we’ve seen one reason for why God allows pain and suffering to exist.  It’s due to the poor choices made by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden; they chose to cast aside God’s commandment and define good and evil themselves with their own autonomy.  Even if you don’t believe in the explicit veracity of that story, we can all recognize that the human species appears to have serious flaws and thus we must take some responsibility for the evil, pain and suffering we see and experience.

However, if we’re made in God’s image, why did He create us this way – with our inherent flaws?  And why hasn’t he forgiven us for the sins of our ancestors and “fixed” us?

To address these questions, we need to step back from the specifics defined in Genesis and try to understand God’s overarching intent for our lives.

We Have The Freedom To Choose

Watch this concise 2 minute video on our relationship with God based on how he created us.

The video points out that we are created in the image of God but we are also created to be free – to have free will.  God does not force us to obey Him nor does He prescribe all aspects of our lives.  God is no puppet master.

Do we know this for sure?  In actuality, philosophers, theologians and scientists have been discussing (arguing!) about whether we have free will for hundreds of years.  There are strong arguments on all sides with no clear winners.

It’s beyond the scope of this article to present all the arguments on both sides of the debate and discuss their merits.  Instead, for now, we will go with the prevailing philosophical and theological opinion that humans have free will.  That is, we have the option to make our own decisions and choose our own actions.  This includes the choice of whether to believe in God.  Of course, with our ability to make choices comes responsibility for those choices.

What Does Having Free Will Say About Evil And Suffering?

It says that God does not force us to obey his commands.  All actions are our own based on our judgement and choices.  The video says it best: “God is responsible for the fact of freedom.  Humans are responsible for their acts of freedom.”  We must own the fact that evil and suffering perpetrated by others are some of the tragic consequences of our own choices and free will.

If you’re like some, that kind of conclusion will feel unsatisfactory.  You may then ask questions like:

• Why did God create humans with free will?
• If God is all-powerful, why not create a universe where evil doesn’t exist?
• Why didn’t God create a universe where good choices are the only possible choices?

These are also important questions.  Let’s dive even deeper here to see if we can find some answers.  Watch this 3 1/2 minute video from the Center for Philosophy of Religion.  It presents arguments from Albert Plantinga, world-renowned philosopher, Notre Dame professor and winner of the Templeton Prize.  Plantinga’s views here are widely accepted even among atheistic proponents who argued the existence of evil implies that a good God doesn’t exist.

Why Are Bad Choices Even An Option?

In the video we see one explanation for the existence of free will and evil.  It’s possible God created humans this way because it’s more valuable to do so than if humans were created some other way – that is, with no free will, with no evil or both.

In addition, evil can sometimes depend on the perspective of the people involved.  Our instinct for self-preservation can sometimes warrant behavior that others might view as evil.  If you’re in a state of true starvation, stealing a cereal bar from a nearby convenience store could be viewed as evil by the storeowner who must cover the cost of that theft.

Of course, this is a somewhat minor example but it raises the question: where to draw the line between misdemeanor and serious evil?  Also, sometimes our actions are based on good intentions but the results can still cause pain and suffering.  There’s some truth to the expression, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

As such, it might be impossible for God to create a universe where evil doesn’t exist and people always choose to do good.  This is the argument from Plantinga proposed in the follow-up video cited at the end (“Transworld Depravity“).  Feel free to watch that video too if you’d like and have the time.

Conclusions

Key Take-Away: God created humans with free will so we are responsible for the consequences of our actions.  God may not have been able to create humans with free will who always do good.

• For now we are stipulating that humans have free will – the ability to make decisions and choices ourselves rather than having everything forced on us, pre-determined or pre-destined
• That allows us to state “God is responsible for the fact of freedom.  Humans are responsible for their acts of freedom”
  • Where do we draw the line between misdemeanor and serious evil?
  • Sometimes our actions are based on good intentions but result in pain and suffering
• We can then ask important questions:
  • Why did God create humans with free will?
  • If God is all-powerful, why not create a universe where evil doesn’t exist?
  • Why didn’t God create a universe where good choices are the only possible choices?
• Renowned philosopher Albert Plantinga addresses the first two questions by postulating that it might be possible God created humans with free will because it’s more valuable to have done so than to have created humans any other way
• Furthermore, it might be impossible for God to have created a universe where evil doesn’t exist and where people always choose to do good