This type of religious theodicy has been advanced by a number of Christians, with a variant of it being found, for example, in Peter van Inwagen’s book, The Problem of Evil (2006, 85ff.). It is not, of course, a full theodicy, since it does not account for the suffering of non-human animals, at least before the Fall. So let us focus on it simply as offering an account of God’s justification for allowing human suffering.  Thus viewed, how successful is it?