Responding to the skeptic, there are number of possible answers to this question from the Christian perspective:
1. You might believe this to be true, but I do not believe
that God agrees with your opinion. Only a being with a free will could have an
authentic relationship with God. The choice
God has given us to accept or reject Him, to love or hate Him, to obey or defy
Him, is a gift and it expresses how valuable we are to Him. This gift is why we
actually have the capacity to love and worship God. Without free will, people
would merely be puppets or robots, who are incapable of expressing God’s image.
Due to this ability to choose good or
evil, suffering is inevitable. An authentic relationship with God, as well as the
capacity to worship and love Him, causes the value of free will to far outweigh the reality of suffering.
2. As a Christian, I don’t believe the suffering of man is
ever “wasted” by God. Since our pain is not pointless, I do believe free will
to be valuable, even in light of suffering. (I fully explain this under Point 2
regarding why children die of cancer).
4. The eternal blessings to come will far
outweigh the afflictions of life on this earth and reveal the immense richness
of having an authentic relationship
with God, which can only be genuine if people have the will to choose. (I fully
explain the “eternal blessings” under the points regarding Heaven.)
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