William L. Rowe (1931- ) argues that it’s all well and good to show that it’s logically possible that God is all-loving, all-knowing, all-powerful, and yet there is evil; however, it’s quite another thing to show that that’s actually the case.
For this reason, Rowe thinks that we need to move on from discussing whether God is logically compatible with the evil in his creation, and start discussing whether we have evidence to think that God actually is compatible with the evil in his creation.
In Rowe’s opinion, the evidence we have of pointless suffering is sufficient to show that there is no God. But he calls this position “ friendly atheism ” because, although it is atheism, it is at least still open to the possibility that believers in God could also produce evidence that the evil we see in the world is redeemed by some divine plan or justice. It’s just that no one has convincingly given us that evidence yet.