If god allows evil because free will is so important...?

Question

AND you can have free will with a predisposition to sin, then why can't you have free will with a predisposition to good? Wouldn't that lessen the evil while still maintaining free will?

I am agnostic in general but atheistic toward the biblical description of god.

sodgirl67: You're not answering the question.

Answer 1

You know you're going to get some adam and eve stuff coming lol. Good and evil are in the eyes of the beholder.

I believe we define what is good and bad based on our individual self based on circumstance. So I believe we have no disposition of evil or good hence innocence.

If we are born innocent, ignorant without knowledge of good or evil how can we comprehend it any other way than personal experience. Because the world is always changing to circumstance there can be no set good or bad.

We use war to justify killing, unfortunate to justify theft, and even our own personal disposition for what we may do. The ideals of good and bad can never be set because they are based on survival and ever changing evolving thing. There will always be a "tooth for a tooth eye for an eye" and "turn the other cheek" so as long as circumstance is an unpredictable variable. There will be contradiction in set laws. This is why the constitution is changeable.

Answer 2

I'll go outside of what everybody else has said here so far and say that original sin is a predisposition to be totally unable to look to God for salvation, and therefore "free will" consists of only our day-to-day decisions, all of which have only one outcome -- Hell. God is not the author of sin, or a predisposition to do evil, although he did create Adam and Eve good. We did this to ourselves, no one else can take the blame. In spite of all this, God sent his son to die for those that he would choose. We don't choose ourselves, anyone who does gives man far too much credit in his sinful state to do this.

Answer 3

There is a predisposition to good depending on how you were raised,That's not all that predisposes goodness,there is hereditary and environment.But with the Christians coming up with the concept of "original sin" you don't hardly have a chance no matter how good you are.And again, with the Christians there is no free-will.If God is Omnipotent he knows everything that has,is,or will happen.That makes everything pre-ordained.If that's the case what choice did Eve,Judas,Pilate or even Mary have?

Answer 4

God (say, holy scriptures?) does not "allow" evil... A parent does not allow his /her kid to meet with accident on a road, though it is quite probable to happen if the kid is not properly trained in traffic rules - such as where and how to cross a road... Even so, God / scriptures lay down some ethical standards for the people, within which the individuals can enjoy a freedom... Total freedom regardless of the skill of individuals to protect themselves from dangers - infatuations, addictions, etc in the ethical sense - is not allowed in any scripture of any religion (say, God)...

God warns of the evil.. which is the negative of Good... it has no existence by itself... like the darkness which has no existence... absence of light is darkness and the moment light is flashed darkness is "gone"... So allowing darkness would mean shutting off light...

Predisposition to sin exists in the absence of a proper value based education... in the absence of proper role models among the elder generation... in the lot of the intoxicating media stories... It is easy to sin and it is enjoyable in some or other way to all...
To lessen the evil impacts only value education by worthy team of teachers (those not addicted to evil habits themselves) is a must..
Now a days it is difficult to find such people even among the clergy... though certainly there are a precious few.. and they are the hopes for the future!

Answer 5

Why does God allow suffering? We need to think back to the time when suffering began. When Satan led Adam and Eve into disobeying Jehovah, an important question was raised. Satan did not call into question Jehovah’s power. Even Satan knows that there is no limit to Jehovah’s power. Rather, Satan questioned Jehovah’s right to rule. By calling God a liar who withholds good from his subjects, Satan charged that Jehovah is a bad ruler. (Genesis 3:2-5) Satan implied that mankind would be better off without God’s rulership. This was an attack on Jehovah’s sovereignty, his right to rule.

Adam and Eve rebelled against Jehovah. In effect, they said: “We do not need Jehovah as our Ruler. We can decide for ourselves what is right and what is wrong.” How could Jehovah settle that issue? How could he teach all intelligent creatures that the rebels were wrong and that his way truly is best? Someone might say that God should simply have destroyed the rebels and made a fresh start. But Jehovah had stated his purpose to fill the earth with the offspring of Adam and Eve, and he wanted them to live in an earthly paradise. (Genesis 1:28) Jehovah always fulfills his purposes. (Isaiah 55:10, 11) Besides that, getting rid of the rebels in Eden would not have answered the question that had been raised regarding Jehovah’s right to rule.

Let us consider an illustration. Imagine that a teacher is telling his students how to solve a difficult problem. A clever but rebellious student claims that the teacher’s way of solving the problem is wrong. Implying that the teacher is not capable, this rebel insists that he knows a much better way to solve the problem. Some students think that he is right, and they also become rebellious. What should the teacher do? If he throws the rebels out of the class, what will be the effect on the other students? Will they not believe that their fellow student and those who joined him are right? All the other students in the class might lose respect for the teacher, thinking that he is afraid of being proved wrong. But suppose that the teacher allows the rebel to show the class how he would solve the problem.

Jehovah has done something similar to what the teacher does. Remember that the rebels in Eden were not the only ones involved. Millions of angels were watching. (Job 38:7; Daniel 7:10) How Jehovah handled the rebellion would greatly affect all those angels and eventually all intelligent creation. So, what has Jehovah done? He has allowed Satan to show how he would rule mankind. God has also allowed humans to govern themselves under Satan’s guidance.

The teacher in our illustration knows that the rebel and the students on his side are wrong. But he also knows that allowing them the opportunity to try to prove their point will benefit the whole class. When the rebels fail, all honest students will see that the teacher is the only one qualified to lead the class. They will understand why the teacher thereafter removes any rebels from the class. Similarly, Jehovah knows that all honesthearted humans and angels will benefit from seeing that Satan and his fellow rebels have failed and that humans cannot govern themselves. Like Jeremiah of old, they will learn this vital truth: “I well know, O Jehovah, that to earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.”—Jeremiah 10:23.

Answer 6

Actually, sodgirl67 hit the nail on the head. We have the free will to do whatever we want to do. Having a predisposition has nothing to do with having the free will to change that predisposition.

Answer 7

I challenge your assertion that people in general have a predisposition to sin. Most people I know are generally good and try to do what they think is right.

As another answerer stated, free will is free will, and allows the weilder of it to choose good or bad freely. Does each person have unique challenges and weaknesses in their lives? Of course. If we didn't, we wouldn't learn a whole lot during our lives.

Answer 8

I think many people have a free will with a predisposition to good. Unfortunately most people tend to focus only on the negative so we don't hear about it near as much. I blame Hollywood.

Answer 9

You do have a predisposition for good, because evil, like darkness, as a physical thing, does not exist.

Darkness is merely the absence of light, and evil is the absence of God's Light in ones life. For a person, it is a choice of whether they wish to allow God's light to brighten their path in life. Granted, they will drift off that path, into the darkness, on occasion, but when you make every effort to try and stay on the path, you will feel the light of warmth of God.

Answer 10

To Don H: Man was created perfect, yes, but why did he sin?

Man was not made like a robot, with electronic controls by which the Almighty would move him and guide his course. He was not controlled, mechanically efficient but devoid of sensibility. Man had the divine gift of free will. Therefore, at a later date Joshua could say: “Now if it is bad in your eyes to serve Jehovah, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve.” (Josh. 24:15) Had man, endowed with free will, been unable to choose bad, that ability to choose would have been incomplete, hence imperfect. Therefore, the very fact that man could choose either good or bad argues, not that he was imperfect, but rather that even in this respect he was a perfect creation. His sin resulted from entertaining wrong desires.—Jas. 1:13-15.