Abstract: There have been various strands of theodicy in Christian tradition—that evil is simply the absence of good, that evil was caused by the Fall of Adam or of the angels, that human free will requires the possibility of moral evil, and that evil is needed to promote the growth of souls. The first strand is worthless, and the value of the second has been exaggerated; but the other two strands are important.

Keywords: Christianity, freewill, sin, soul, the Fall, theodicy,