This is an excerpt from Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. It is a dialogue between Alyosha and Ivan Karamazov (although Ivan does the majority of the talking, Alyosha does interject periodically).
Also worth noting is that this is the Garnett translation; if you're interested in reading any of Dostoevsky's work, I'd recommend reading this as a litmus test for Garnett's style. If you don't like him, you can sample some of the P&V translation to see if you prefer it over Garnett.
Looking forward to hearing what you guys think of the excerpt and the problem of evil!
I can't believe you aren't going to include The Grand Inquisitor in the reading selection. It is the contra to everything that Ivan says up to that point.
It is Ivan's rapture and disdain for what it means to doubt and have faith simultaneously. It is hard to even read any section of this book without the death of Father Zossima giving the reader the foundation that indeed Alyosha is willing to reflect Ivan sickness.