Skeptical theism proves too much. If we cannot judge whether an evil is pointless, we also cannot trust our moral judgments at all, which wrecks ethics and even trust in God’s goodness.

This is the best objection to skeptical theism and it should be granted force. The reply is that being unable to rule out unseen reasons for a specific tragedy is different from being unable to tell right from wrong in ordinary life. We can know that torturing a child is wrong while admitting we cannot map every consequence of every event across history. The Christian does not rest on skeptical theism alone, but pairs it with the cross, where God’s goodness is shown rather than merely argued.