ABSTRACT
Why are we, as created by a perfectly good God, so susceptible both to doing evil and to suffering on account of it? In addressing this question, this chapter advances a Free Will Theodicy that is deeply informed by two theological doctrines within Thomistic thought: the doctrine of “original justice” and the doctrine of “original sin.” According to this Thomistic Free Fall Theodicy (FFT), we are susceptible to participating in evil because we are fallen, possessing a nature deprived of the grace and gift of original justice. And we possess a fallen nature deprived of original justice because our first parents sinned and fell away from God. This Thomistic FFT is fully consistent with what evolutionary science tells us about human origins. It accounts for how the first human beings could (and did) freely fall, even given their privileged moral and spiritual standing. And it explains why it is in no way unjust for God to permit us to suffer the consequences of their fall. Finally, God only allows the Fall to occur in order to realize much, redeeming good.
