Dürrenmatt's assertions frequently cause a reader to stop precisely at a point where serious analysis of basic assumptions should begin. His statements on the absurdity and chaotic quality of the world, for example, might seem to indicate that Dürrenmatt has resigned himself to the necessity of regarding the world as "chaos" and given up the job of trying to order or formulate his basic ontology in a coherent fashion…. [However there is] an overwhelming mass of evidence to indicate that the roots of Dürrenmatt's writings are firmly planted in an orderly personal theology that he uses to measure and judge the perplexing problems of our times. (p. 28)

In one of Dürrenmatt's short stories, Der Tunnel, some specific questions are asked about the significance of human existence and its relationship to God. Dürrenmatt paints a terrifying picture, showing the impotency and the complete lack...