Nicer Than God

“Before we can answer this question rightly, we have to ask it rightly. This is one of those situations where even to ask the question–“How do we tell the right time for satire and the right time for tenderness?”–answers those who want to say that there is never a time for polemical speech. But of course, as we have seen, this is just another example of something that pietists excel at doing–trying to be wiser than God, holier than God, nicer than God” (A Serrated Edge, p. 58).