Proverbs 12:2. "A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but a man of evil devices he condemns."

This seems so simple, but it is bringing me back to the controversy over the Pope saying that human beings are fundamentally good and his critics saying no one is good except God. This verse indicates people can be good and, if they are, they are favored by God. It also indicates God condemns the man of evil devices, but note that it does not simply say "an evil man." The proverb calls the good man good, but does not call the man of evil devices an evil man. Thus, this seems to support the Pope's view of humanity - we are all created to be good, so when we do good, we are being who God created us to be, and thus we are "good," we are in right order with God. When we choose evil, which we all do sometimes because we are fallen and broken (and that is the point of the Pope's critics), then we are not being who God created us to be. This does not change what we are, however, because God is the Creator who has spoken us into being. What God says we are is what we are, and He said we are good (see, again, Genesis 1:31).

The evil that we choose to do cannot change the goodness of God's creation, it can only separate us from God. This is why hell is painful - we can choose evil, we can choose not to be in God's presence, but we cannot change ourselves to not care about being good, because we were created to be good, so when we choose evil, we suffer.