This reader samples a wide range of modern theological, religious and philosophical discussion on the problem of evil, understood both in terms of the practical or spiritual problem of coping with evil, and the theological problem of explaining its presence in God''s world.

Topics include protest atheism, responses to the Holocaust, Buddhist spirituality, the freewill defence, the vale of soul-making theodocy, and the ''cost-effectiveness'' of evil.

Contributors include Roy Eckardt, Austin Farrer, John Hick, Soren Kierkegaard, John Mackie, Jurgen Moltmann, Kenneth Surin, Elie Wiesel.