There is virtually nothing which the Christian will accept as evidence of God’s evil. If disasters that are admittedly “unmerited, pointless, and incapable of being morally rationalized” [quoting Hick] are compatible with the “goodness” of God, what could possibly qualify as contrary evidence? The “goodness” of God, it seems, is compatible with any state of affairs. While we evaluate a man with reference to his actions, we are not similarly permitted to judge God. God is immune from the judgment of evil as a matter of principle.

— George Smith