This means that God created the world so as to best fulfill his purpose in creating it, which (according to Warren) was to create a suitable environment for “soul”-making” (the development of man's soul in choosing to love and serve God). This, as Warren describes, requires that certain characteristics be present for the environment to be “ideal” for God's purpose. Some of these characteristics include that it would be neither overwhelming nor disappointing in its proof of God's existence (because it would essentially deprive man's ability to choose freely), would represent a challenge to man, would include things that are insignificant compared to eternity, would provide for man's physical needs, etc. Understanding these necessary characteristics in relation to God's purpose for this world resolves many of the questions the atheist will raise regarding the “problem of eternity”.