TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER The Bookworm Sez Advertisement

This morning, while you enjoyed your coffee and your newspaper, hundreds of children died of starvation.

As you drove to the office, sipping from your water bottle, women in other countries walked several miles to fetch water.

While you grumbled about extra work today, people overseas worked more hours than you did, and for a fraction of your salary.

Do you ever wonder why we have abundance while others lack? In the new audiobook "God's Problem," author Bart D. Ehrman examines the Bible, sinfulness and suffering.

Once upon a time, Ehrman was born again in the Spirit. He spent his youth steeped in church events. He became a minister and an evangelist, and led people to Christ.

One day, he began to ponder faith versus fact. If God exists and He is loving, why do humans suffer so brutally?

Theologians and ministers might say that we suffer because we sin.

Adam and Eve brought that upon us in the Garden of Eden. But, Ehrman asks, how do we explain a God who allowed the torture and death of millions of Jews in the Holocaust? Were Cambodians murdered by Pol Pot deserving of their suffering? Would a compassionate God make children starve in Darfur because, say, we Americans are sinners? If their suffering is punishment, does the punishment fit the sin?

Looking at the Bible, Ehrman says that suffering is a recurring theme in both the Old and New testaments. Conquering armies, stoning and violent attacks are found in verse after verse.

Men offer their women up to marauding mobs, and children are "dashed against rocks." Is that, Ehrman asks, the work of a loving God?

Or is it possible that we suffer because of others' sins?

Does a cancer patient, for instance, suffer because someone else sinned? Is suffering good, maybe a path to redemption or perhaps a divine test of some sort?

What about natural disasters? Are they designed by God to punish everyone, including those who did no wrong?

Whew.

Can you say "controversy"?

Ehrman says that he was once "born again" but now is "dead again," meaning that he turned from deep faith to agnosticism. He says that he stopped believing years ago, yet he (surprisingly) quotes the Bible over and over in his zeal to back up his opinions.

That's all well and good. Individual biblical interpretations have always caused disagreement and lively conversation. With a premise like this, you would expect references to Biblical teachings.

What's particularly discomforting about this audiobook, though, are the gruesome, detailed, overly lengthy descriptions of suffering, torture, and death.

Whether you genially agree, vehemently disagree, or are merely intrigued by Ehrman's ideas, the interminably long, stomach-churning, nightmarish tracks make his point abundantly clear long before they're mercifully over. Needless to say, this is absolutely not an audiobook for the kiddies.

If you enjoy hot-button theological discourse, "God's Problem" will start some fiery discussions. If you're a firm believer in God's divinity, though, you won't have a prayer of enjoying this audiobook.

"God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question - Why We Suffer" by Bart D. Ehrman, read by L. J. Ganser, HarperAudio, $39.95, 8 CDs / 10 hours.