> Well, that's why I copy everything I wrote before posting. ;-P

Yeah, yeah, yeah. :-P

> Well, I think that's mostly what I meant. We can differ, I suppose, on exactly what joy is, but my point was that we wouldn't know it without evil. Which we apparently agree on. Um...right?

Yes, that's right.

>
>I'm taking free will to mean "ability to make a decision", not "ability to make a decision and not face consequence(s)." I don't believe the presence of a consequence reduces the freedom of the will. It certainly presents good incentive to make the right decision by God, but in the end: we can still choose the incorrect answer. It may not be what God *wants*, but we can still do it. Are you assuming that "free" in "free will" means ability to make a decision without consequence? I'm taking "free" to mean "unimposed upon by outside forces". I could be reading your last paragraph wrong, I dunno.

Right. I was mostly clearing that up because I HAVE heard a lot of people assume that because we have the free will to do something, that means that we can do it with no consequence. In other words, *I* don't assume that the "'free' in 'free will' means ability to make a decision without consequence," but I HAVE heard of others who've assumed this.

Mia