Let me know what you think. — James Moore

I think we have free will in spite of scriptures saying we do not, as it does in the quotes in this link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byHYeHN4ZUQ

As I said, I see the evil in evolution that is forced upon us as a small evil in a larger good and thus we must live with it or go extinct.

We can mitigate that harm but to eliminate it would be disastrous.

Regards
DL

I think the free will defence is a partial success.

It is very plausible that free will essentially involves not being under the control of another being. Free will involves autonomy, which requires that one's decisions originate with oneself.

It is also very plausible that free will is very valuable in and of itself. And it is plausible that its value is so great it eclipses the disvalue of the moral evil it allows those who have it to engage in.

Given these things, it is plausible that a good god who had the power to deprive others of free will and control every one in ways that guaranteed no evil would be done would not exercise that power.

I do not see why heaven and hell create problems either. For free will creates other goods, such as desert. That is, if I freely do good then I deserve reward (because I did it freely) and if I freely do bad then I deserve punishment (because I did it freely). And it is good if people get what they deserve. As heaven is where good people get their just deserts, and hell is where bad people get their just deserts, I fail - at the moment anyway - to see why they raise a problem.