This position holds that theodicies explain evil as the absence of good, permitted so God can test us. It argues that evil checks humanity's loyalty and enables personal growth — that, given free will, suffering is the price of an authentic relationship with God and of seeing his love.
Supporting arguments · 5
- God needs evil for an authentic relationship with humanityGod needs evil to offer an alternative to his love. Without a viable alternative, humans cannot choose God's love
- Humans have free willGod gave us free will. God accepts evil as a necessary consequence of human free will.
- Theodicies explain suffering as evil allowing personal growthHumans are unable to reach moral perfection unless faced with obstacles that encourage them to improve morally. Through the endurance of suffering and evil, they grow closer to moral perfection.
- God didn’t create evil but we need evil to see God’s loveIf we never experienced evil, we would not comprehend goodness. We experience the ultimate goodness through God’s love-but we must experience evil to value it. If we lived in a perfect world, we would not appreciate God's love. Though God did not create evil, he uses it to show Himself to the world.
- Evil acts as a litmus test checking mankind's loyalty to GodEvil is God's sieve that separates the loyalists from the unworthy. Yet, everyone is loved by God and is given a chance to reject temptation, or to repent and save themselves from eternal damnation. All He looks for is loyalty in exchange for the boundless gifts given to His creation.