t while God is not held accountable in the here and now, he is held accountable in the afterlife. God may not be responsible for the evil that we create in this world, but He is responsible for giving us free will. God knew that humanity was bound to choose evil, because we are imperfect, and therefore, He is in some way responsible. All the innocent people that suffered because of the evil acts of others must be compensated in the afterlife for being faithful to God, in spite their suffering. This is why some believe that for the free will defense to work, there must be a dimension beyond time and history where all suffering finds its course. Biblical support of the free will defense can be seen in the story of Adam and Eve. In story of Genesis, God created a perfect world for Adam and Eve to live in, The Garden of Eden, where they had no need for want or sin. Adam and Eve might have had no need to sin, but God gave them the ability to choose their actions for themselves. Both Adam and Eve were tempted by the Devil to rebel against Gods commands and chose to sin. They made this choice of their own accord. This example of the Original Sin shows that when God first created humanity, He valued moral independence so highly that He gave humanity a sense of free will, despite knowing that they might choose to commit evil. It also reinforces the idea that humanity is responsible for its plight and the existence of evil in the world today. The free will defense is such a popular theodicy because it has such a logical way of explaining evil. It forces humanity to hold itself accountable for the evil that exists in the world and it gives good reasons for why this evil exists. As the logic goes, God could not eliminate evil without at the same time rendering it impossible to accomplish other goals that are important to Him. Certainly, for God to create human beings that are capable of sustaining a personal relationship with Him, they must be bein...
