II. Why Does God Allow Evil?

Theodicy is the oldest hard question, and people deserve more than "free will, mystery, the end."

1. Free-will defense. Real love, real worship, and real moral action require real choice. A world where evil is impossible is also a world where good is automatic and meaningless. 2. Soul-making. Romans 5:3–5 — suffering produces endurance, character, hope. James 1:2–4 — testing produces "perfect work." Evil is a kiln, not a contradiction. 3. Greater good. The cross is the test case: the worst evil ever committed (the murder of the sinless Son of God) produced the greatest good ever realized (the salvation of the world). If God can extract that from that, the syllogism "if God were good He would prevent X" fails. 4. Eschatological resolution. The story isn't over. Evil's persistence in chapter 4 doesn't mean it persists in chapter 22. Most theodicy errors assume the present is the verdict.

"Why did God create at all, knowing evil would result?" — this is the deepest form. The answer the Bible gives is not philosophical, it is trinitarian: God created because love overflows. Creation is the Father's gift to the Son (Eph 1:4–6, Col 1:16), and the Son's gift back to the Father is a redeemed humanity (Rev 5:9–10). Evil is the cost of letting love be real love.