Dostoevsky

I am in the middle of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's (one of my favorite authors) The Brothers Karamozov, a story about a Russian family, and I found this short passage that I thought I'd pass along. One of the brothers, Alyosha, is a novice in the Russian Orthodox Church, and he is having a discussion over dinner with one of his brothers, Ivan, about the existence of God. Ivan claims that he accepts the existence of God but cannot accept the existence of the world God created because of the suffering of children (of which he gives several fairly graphic examples). Here is part of their exchange:
"'imagine that you yourself are erecting the edifice of human fortune with the goal of, at the finale, making people happy, of at last giving them peace and quiet, but in order to do it it would be necessary and unavoidable to torture to death only one tiny little creature, that same little child that beat its breast with its little fist and on its unavenged tears to found that edifice, would you agree to be the architect on those conditions, tell me and tell me truly?'
'No, I would not agree,' Alyosha said quietly.
'And are you able to allow the idea that the poeple for whom you are construcing the edifice would themselves agree to accept their happiness being bought by the unwarranted blood of a small, tortured child and, having accepted it, remain happy for ever?'
'No, I cannot. Brother,' Alyosha said suddenly, his eyes flashing, 'just now you said: 'Is there in all the world a Being that could forgive and have the right to forgive?' Well, that Being does exist and It can forgive everything, everyone, man and woman alike, and for everything, because It gave Its innocent blood for all things and all men. You have forgotten about It, but on It the edifice is founded and this it is that people will exclaim to It: 'Just and true art Thou, O Lord, for Thy ways are made plain.'"