Atheistic philosopher Andre Comte-Sponville writes, “True, human beings are often responsible for suffering and injustice. But who created humanity? …why would God have made us so weak, cowardly, violent, avid, pretentious and overbearing?”[1] Likewise, Michael Martin writes, “Indeed, humans constitute the most dangerous class of entities ever made, and their creator, it can be argued, should be held responsible for their actions.”[2] In response, a number of observations can be made:
First, the first cause for sin was a free decision –not God’s creation. If our freewill decision brought sin into the world, then this was the first cause of sin. To speak about a cause before the first cause is a nonsensical statement.
Second, freewill is a morally neutral faculty. By creating freewill, God did not create something inherently evil. It is the use of this neutral faculty that makes it good or evil. For example, an axe can cut firewood, or it can cut someone’s head off. A pen can write a sonnet, or it can write slander. A man can use his intellect to solve a crime or to rob a bank. The point is: axes, pens, and intellects are not good or evil. Instead, the users are good or evil. Freewill goes back to the user not the giver. For instance, when a drunk driver kills a family of four, who is responsible? Is he responsible for the accident? –or is the car company responsible for creating the car that he drove? Of course, the giver of the car is not responsible for the userof the car. Similarly, God is not responsible for our use (or abuse) of freewill.