If God is Good, Why Much Evil in the World? -Part III

If you were God, getting ready to create a universe ( or many, for that matter), you would have to make several decisions. First, would you want to have the conditions in the universe that you are creating which would make it suitable for life? Second, what kind of life? Living things that are unaware that they are alive? Living things that are robotic, going about aware of themselves, but totally pre-programmed? Living things that may choose their behaviors, but lacking knowledge of morality? Living things that may choose their behaviors, having morality, but incapable of knowing or expressing love? Or living beings that may choose their behaviors, knowing right from wrong and capable of love?

The problem with creating creatures that can love in the highest sense is that they need free will to do so. But the free will to love, also means the free will not to. And if you choose not to, there will be indifference or hatred in its place. There can be no vacuum here.

So God could not create a universe in which love could be known, without allowing for the possibility of evil. For to say that a being that has no choice but to love is to say something meaningless. You need to be free to love, free to accept love.

The problem is that evil is ensnaring and addictive, because, at its heart, sin is deciding against God and for self alone. Once one has committed evil, it gives a false sense of empowerment - at first. Then it becomes addictive to one degree or another. Everyone has some "besetting sin," a sin or group of sins that he or she cannot shake, nor of ones own will give up. Ultimately, I do not have the sin, the sin has me, and, isolated from God by it, I become its slave. The Bible says that we are sold unto sin.

It also says that God foresaw this "before the foundations of the world." Humanity would need to be redeemed and delivered - but then there was that sticky point of free will. More...