Life is at once wonderful and appalling, beautiful and horrific.

Although we can all give meaning to our lives by trying to live well, is there some given meaning to be discovered?

Science cannot answer this question, and philosophical arguments leave the issue open.

The monotheistic religions claim that the meaning has been revealed to us, and Christians see this is above all in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Richard Harries considers the Christian claim in the context of an in-depth discussion of the nature of evil and how this is to be reconciled with a loving God. He argues that belief in the resurrection and hope in the face of death is fundamental to faith, and suggests that while there is no final intellectual answer to the problem of evil, we must all, believer and non-believer alike, protest against the world as it is, rather than seeking forms of escape, whether in this life or the next.