My "go-to" attempt at theodicy for the problem of suffering and evil being allowed by a kind, just, and benevolent God has always been free will. I like to point out things like without pain, we would have no way to conceptualize pleasure, and without sorrow we could not truly appreciate joy. Likewise, some of my best evidence that the New Testament is true is that half of it was written by Paul, who persecuted and murdered Christians when he still called himself Saul. Few serious people question whether Paul was a real historical figure or that he went from being an executioner of Christians to ultimately become an early Christian martyr. However, I'm not the least bit afraid of challenging my own beliefs on a regular basis, and the question recently popped into my head: did God interfere with Saul's free will? Saul hadn't been looking for God -- in fact, he was actively searching for more Christians to murder when Jesus appeared on the road to Damascus and completely changed his life. Yet if it weren't for Paul, Christianity would not be what it is today. So, how do we solve this conundrum? Atheists like to argue for determinism, but if determinism is really true, how can we as a society justify putting criminals into prison if they have no choice except to rob, rape, and murder other people? That doesn't seem fair, if we really and truly cannot choose between right and wrong. My counterargument has been that without free will, humans would become slaves to their DNA and their environment. But if determinism is true and we really are slaves to our … [Read more...]