In Nikos Kazantzakis's novel Christ Recrucified, there is a scene in which four village men confess their sins to one another in the presence of the Pope. One of the men, Michelis, cries out, "How can God let us live on the earth? Why doesn't he kill us to purify creation?" "Because, Michelis," the Pope answered, "God is a potter; he works in mud."