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The Problem of Pain

The Problem of Pain

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  • Create Date：2021-05-19 08:51:38
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
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  • Author：C.S. Lewis
  • ISBN：1444434640
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Summary

For centuries people have been tormented by one question above all: If God is good and all-powerful， why does he allow his creatures to suffer pain？ And what of the suffering of animals， who neither deserve pain nor can be improved by it？

The greatest Christian thinker of our time sets out to disentangle this knotty issue。 With his signature wealth of compassion and insight， C。 S。 Lewis offers answers to these crucial questions and shares his hope and wisdom to help heal a world hungry for a true understanding of human nature。

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Reviews

Thomas ，

CS Lewis is tremendous at explaining complex terms in simple manners especially through the use of analogy。

James Hadinger ，

A challenging book with great substance - I really enjoyed the chapter on how God’s Love ≠ mere kindness。

Rachel Andrews ，

Y’all already know this， but Lewis was brilliant。 A quick but thoroughly stimulating read。 If the last chapter doesn’t make you long for Heaven， I don’t know what will。 I was also fascinated to learn that Lewis was apparently a believer in theistic evolution。

Marvin ，

Una perspectiva filosófica y cristiana sobre el dolor。 C。S。 Lewis aborda esta tematica en si no bien todas， si en muchas de sus facetas ， no solamente el dolor físico o emocional como solemos definirlo。

Amy ，

Like all of Lewis's canon， I need to read this a hundred more times and even then I think there'd be more for me to glean from it。 Beautiful and sensible and real。 This isn't fluffy hand-holding comfort--Lewis lays down the rocks and hard places that saturate human existence in a way that is deeply soothing。 Like all of Lewis's canon， I need to read this a hundred more times and even then I think there'd be more for me to glean from it。 Beautiful and sensible and real。 This isn't fluffy hand-holding comfort--Lewis lays down the rocks and hard places that saturate human existence in a way that is deeply soothing。 。。。more

Isaac Riley ，

A great start for exploring the topic of pain， suffering， and the Christian life。 As always， Lewis' poetic and compelling writing style engages the reader in thoughtful consideration of some of the more challenging aspects of Christianity。 His views on heaven and hell are captivating and nuanced， and as a whole book this definitely requires a reread！ A great start for exploring the topic of pain， suffering， and the Christian life。 As always， Lewis' poetic and compelling writing style engages the reader in thoughtful consideration of some of the more challenging aspects of Christianity。 His views on heaven and hell are captivating and nuanced， and as a whole book this definitely requires a reread！ 。。。more

Carlyn Cole ，

Solid。

Mary Sasala ，

This was one of his most impactful books on me！ It was so amazing。 It truly challenged me and made me rethink ideas I had about pain and the world in which we live。

Gage Hallbauer ，

Here is another book that made me long for Heaven—the place for which I was designed， where all will be right。 This book was a good reminder， however， that Heaven will only be the fulfillment of all desire to those whose desires match the Lord’s。 So submit your desires to Him， you reader of Goodreads 5 Star Reviews！“Again， we are afraid that Heaven is a bribe… heaven offers nothing that a mercenary soul can desire。 It is safe to tell pure in heart that they shall see God， for only the pure in he Here is another book that made me long for Heaven—the place for which I was designed， where all will be right。 This book was a good reminder， however， that Heaven will only be the fulfillment of all desire to those whose desires match the Lord’s。 So submit your desires to Him， you reader of Goodreads 5 Star Reviews！“Again， we are afraid that Heaven is a bribe… heaven offers nothing that a mercenary soul can desire。 It is safe to tell pure in heart that they shall see God， for only the pure in heart want to。”Recently， I’ve been asking God to “replace my desires with His” every single morning。 It’s been 154 days as of this morning， and I highly recommend the practice！ God wins all of this。 And the more I want what He wants， the more my desires are fulfilled！ （Not the primary reason to love God， of course， but a fabulous cherry on top）。 。。。more

Timmy Warren ，

Challenging yet rewarding read。 Almost every paragraph require real reflection and thought to grasp。 Definitely not done with this book and have already found myself rereading and reconsidering the arguments made throughout。

Holly ，

I started this book at the beginning of the year and haven’t had a chance to finish it until now…so alas， this will not be a very detailed review。 But all in al， I learned so much from this book —things I have used in daily life and daily conversation over the past few months。 It definitely deserves a reread as some parts are difficult to understand。 I can’t wait to hop into more Lewis。

Grace ，

This was brilliant！Although I will have to revisit this book， as some thoughts went right over my head， because the narrator of the audio book read so， so fast :DThere are so many aspects of pain and suffering that C。S。 Lewis explored and explained in this， even down to animal suffering。It's a very philosophical and educational approach to questions about God's sovereignty， his goodness and why we still are suffering in this world。 Yet， C。S。 Lewis still managed to weave in his sneaky humour， tha This was brilliant！Although I will have to revisit this book， as some thoughts went right over my head， because the narrator of the audio book read so， so fast :DThere are so many aspects of pain and suffering that C。S。 Lewis explored and explained in this， even down to animal suffering。It's a very philosophical and educational approach to questions about God's sovereignty， his goodness and why we still are suffering in this world。 Yet， C。S。 Lewis still managed to weave in his sneaky humour， that lightened the topic ever so slightly， just when I needed it。One of my favorite quotes that I can relate to so much， as summer is approaching:“’Where will you put all the mosquitoes？’-a question to be answered on its own level by pointing out that， if worst came to worst， a heaven for mosquitoes and a hell for men could very conveniently be combined。”I also got a new view on the character trait of God's omnipotence， which I appreciated very much:"When we say God is omnipotent （all-powerful）， we mean He can do anything that's intrinsically possible。 It's nonsense to claim He can do what's intrinsically impossible or self-contradictory。""Nonsense remains nonsense even if we talk it about God。"I will probably order this as a physical book sooner or later because I want to highlight the **** out of this book， if you know what I mean， because of all the amazing quotes that just brushed past my mind as I was listening to this。Not a long read， but definitely a memorable one。 。。。more

Lance Newman ，

I really enjoyed this overall。 This was my first read of any of C。S。 Lewis theological works。 Some parts lost me a bit， but Lewis does a great job of giving multiple angles to the same point。 I marked up many passages of this one and would love to have some conversations with other readers of this title regarding several different ideas brought up。

Katherine Brian ，

Lewis is a brilliant writer。 He is thoughtful in his writing and thought provoking in his ideas。 Some great explanations of big topics！ 4。5 stars ⭐️

Ethan Teo ，

While similar in nature to 'Miracles'， in that Lewis presents here a philosophical argument for the necessity of pain and suffering in a world created by a God of 'goodness'， I found 'The Problem of Pain' to be more readable than 'Miracles' - perhaps because of the contemporary （read: everlasting） presence of such sentiment in the world - indeed， I found myself searching for the answers within this book， and in the process growing much。 I style this review by recounting three aspects of the argu While similar in nature to 'Miracles'， in that Lewis presents here a philosophical argument for the necessity of pain and suffering in a world created by a God of 'goodness'， I found 'The Problem of Pain' to be more readable than 'Miracles' - perhaps because of the contemporary （read: everlasting） presence of such sentiment in the world - indeed， I found myself searching for the answers within this book， and in the process growing much。 I style this review by recounting three aspects of the argument which remain in my mind。 First， that pain inevitably exists in a world where men have been given free will。 Much of the suffering in the world is not 'divine' as a natural disaster or an illness may be considered to be， but instead inflicted by man upon man。 Second， that where suffering is by chance （and hence divine）， Lewis points out that a life full of perfect satisfaction hardly inclines Man towards searching for God。 In this fashion， suffering is， by all means， necessary。 In spite of the above， it is perfectly reasonable for men to endeavour to avoid suffering - anyone who does otherwise is a masochist or worse。 But when suffering does， in fact， arise， it presents a great opportunity for growth， charity， sacrifice， and great courage on the part of the sufferer。 Pain in itself is to be avoided， but the sentiment it inspires is to be admired。 。。。more

Bettyliz Vazquez ，

Posiblemente el mejor libro que he leído en lo que va del año👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Dennis McClure ，

Lewis is sometimes too smart for his readers。 He is certainly too smart for me。 I invariably find myself having to read each chapter twice and， occasionally thrice。 But he was a true and thorough Christian who thought about and explored his beliefs in great and thorough detailI have yet to read anything by him that didn’t leave me understanding something new about my own Christianity。

Ann Adams ，

I needed a hard copy of this book in order to "Get" all that Lewis was saying。 I would underline----read and reread and make notes。 Even then it's a lot to absorb。 I needed a hard copy of this book in order to "Get" all that Lewis was saying。 I would underline----read and reread and make notes。 Even then it's a lot to absorb。 。。。more

Josiah Richardson ，

Pain is a peculiar phenomenon not only because it affects both our physical bodies and our spiritual souls， but also because it is one of the few unifying elements that every human has experienced。 For many， this is a just cause to reject any spirituality or religion that promises some sort of reprieve and salve from the aches and bruises of life。 For C。S。 Lewis， however， the problem of pain is truly an apologetic for the Christian faith， however counterintuitive this may appear。 In The Problem Pain is a peculiar phenomenon not only because it affects both our physical bodies and our spiritual souls， but also because it is one of the few unifying elements that every human has experienced。 For many， this is a just cause to reject any spirituality or religion that promises some sort of reprieve and salve from the aches and bruises of life。 For C。S。 Lewis， however， the problem of pain is truly an apologetic for the Christian faith， however counterintuitive this may appear。 In The Problem of Pain， Lewis argues that it is through pain that man can make sense of a world without suffering， and it is through the promise of the Gospel that pain will one day be no more。 Lewis defines the problem of pain in the following manner， “If God were good， He would wish to make His creatures perfectly happy， and if God were almighty He would be able to do what He wished。 But the creatures are not happy， therefore God lacks either goodness， or power， or both。 This is the problem of pain， in its simplest form”（16）。 Lewis responds to the claims that God should be able to do as He pleased， by differentiating between things that are intrinsically impossible and those things which are intrinsically possible。 For the first， Lewis holds that God in His omnipotence can do all things which are intrinsically possible but not such things which are intrinsically impossible （18）。 For instance， miracles are intrinsically possible whereas married bachelors are intrinsically impossible because it is contradictory。 And therefore， to Lewis， God in His omnipotence creates a world in which pain and suffering exists because to create one without it is to negate any sense of free will that humanity may have （26）。 This is an intrinsically impossible notion to Lewis as it would mean that in order for mankind to live without a free will would be to induce a form of fatalism， something that Lewis has found presuppotionally incoherent within the text of Scripture。 Lewis goes on to assert that the supposed goodness of man and all his humanitarian efforts are not to be seen as a bargaining chip before God so that He might restrain his hand from punishing those who do not obey him （53）。 Those who claim that the human race isn’t all bad， and， after all， this generation is far superior in moral values in comparison to the ancients， are missing the Biblical context that is necessary to see the depravity of man （62）。 This is all traced back to the fall of man in Adam as told in the book of Genesis， where Adam as the federal head of mankind fell into sin and received the curse linked with it。 In Lewis’ mind， this lends itself to the notion that man is unable to claim innocence before God and when man experiences hardships and suffering there becomes no route in which he can say he is being treated in an unfair manner。 Additionally， this means that mankind’s understanding of what good and evil truly are， is skewed from the fall to the point that we long for what is evil and turn away from what is good （84）。 This is why we recognize that sticks are great to start fires with but cause pain when used to bash someone over the head with one， not because the stick is either good or evil， for it is neither， but rather because the vice in the hands of an evil person will produce evil。 Lewis draws the connection here that pain and suffering that we all too readily attribute to God is really our human race pouring hot coals onto ourselves， and this means that when we complain that evil and suffering exists we are complaining about our own existence because we are evil and insufferable （72）。 It is our human race， Lewis points out， that has created whips， prisons， slavery， gunds， knives， and bombs and as such we are decrying the wrong culprit for pain when we blame God for it （86）。 But for Lewis， pain serves more ends than simply hurt or suffering because it is through mortification that pain is most properly utilized （90）。 The human spirit is a depraved spirit that will not consent to self-will without some sort of agent pushing on it to move， as Lewis notes “God whispers to us in our pleasures， speaks in our conscience， but shouts in our pain” （91）。 According to Lewis， there is a necessity beyond mortification of sin and that is retribution for sin; without a world of pain， proper punishment for wrong-doing would not exist （93）。 Proper punishment is the fair and just way to treat transgressors of the law， just as reward is the proper response to treat those who keep the law or by Christ’s virtue， have Him vicariously keep the law on their behalf （96）。 Against Kant， Lewis believes that virtuous men become more virtuous the more he enjoys his virtue and that as such as men are the culprits of pain， they will only become culprits of virtue through a change in their being （98-101）。 In The Problem of Pain， Lewis gave several reasons why we should alter our conception of what pain truly is， alter our minds to see that pain has origins in the fall， and alter our opinions to believe that pain is not exclusively bad。 In pithy ways， Lewis unpacked a very difficult question that has haunted the Christian faith for centuries， and through Lewis’ apologetic we have been afforded a proper and concise answer to the issue。 Lewis utilized an apologetics approach most suitably connected with presuppositionalism rather than with evidentialism。 Lewis’ three major arguments used the standard of Scripture and the foundation of rational belief to argue that God has a plan with pain and that it can be used towards virtuous goals。 He did not attempt to provide factual data or evidence to support his claim， but rather relied on the consensus among humanity that pain hurts （105）。 His ultimate authority was in Christ， the ultimate treasure， and it was through this presupposition that pain can be properly understood and managed （107）。 In this sense， Lewis has supported his thesis that it is through pain that we can make sense of the world and of ourselves， and that the problem of pain is essentially kicking the can down the road instead of addressing the real issues of sin and unbelief across the human race。 However， there were several clear errors where Lewis either did not support his assertions， or provided answers that were simply unscriptural and pure conjecture。 The first error was in Lewis’ address on whether God determines pain and suffering and likens it to the age-old Euthyprho argument as to whether God commands what is good or whether things are good because God commands them。 Lewis responds that God commands what is good rather than that things are good because God commands them and his explanation is that God could have arbitrarily commanded hatred to be good and thus it would be （99）。 While this is certainly true， it does not necessitate that the other option of God commanding what is good is the correct option。 The reason that it is not correct is because we would have God commanding something that was good apart from His declarative power。 Again this kicks the can down the road because， we would have God appealing to something outside of Himself that is good rather than appealing to the very standard of goodness itself， which is His own character and attributes。 The second issue is that Lewis attributes the sinfulness of man to something other than his total depravity， and goes on to say that depravity must not be true because of all the good things that unbelievers do （61）。 This is a faulty understanding of total depravity， for we do not believe that man is as sinful as he could be， only that man is sinful before God in such a way that there is nothing that has not been tainted by sin and it is in this manner that totality is used。 Additionally， if total depravity is not to blame for the ongoing sins and wickedness of mankind as testified by scripture， then what is？ Lewis provides no answer and gives no reasoning for this statement; he would have done well to extrapolate more upon this particular subject as he referenced man’s wickedness several times through The Problem of Pain。C。 S。 Lewis in The Problem of Pain provided a clear and easy to follow answer to why pain and suffering exists in the world if there is a loving and just God who rules over the universe。 Lewis provided several arguments that supported his thesis that mankind has misunderstood botht the concept of pain and suffering and the origin of pain and suffering， which has led to not knowing the purpose of pain and suffering。 I would recommend this work to any layperson who would like to get a better grasp on the problem of pain without being overwhelmed with academic literature and vocabulary。 。。。more

Bailey ，

Man C。S Lewis was a smart guy。 I think I understood 30% of his arguments here but that 30% was fascinating。 Here are some favorite quotes that made me think:“We want in fact， not so much a Father in Heaven as a grandfather in heaven- a senile benevolence who， as they say， ‘liked to see young people enjoying themselves’， and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might be said at the end of the day， ‘a good time was had by all’。“Everyone feels benevolent if nothing happens to be annoying Man C。S Lewis was a smart guy。 I think I understood 30% of his arguments here but that 30% was fascinating。 Here are some favorite quotes that made me think:“We want in fact， not so much a Father in Heaven as a grandfather in heaven- a senile benevolence who， as they say， ‘liked to see young people enjoying themselves’， and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might be said at the end of the day， ‘a good time was had by all’。“Everyone feels benevolent if nothing happens to be annoying him at the moment。 Thus a man easily comes to console himself for all his other vices by a conviction that ‘his heart is in the right place’ and ‘he wouldn’t hurt a fly’ though in fact he never made the slightest sacrifice for a fellow creature。”So I’m glad I read it for tidbits I gathered， but I can’t say my rating is very just since most of it flew right over my head。 。。。more

Shawna ，

As with most CS Lewis books， I’m sure I’ll have to read it again to start beginning to understand it。 But there was plenty of mind food in it for just my first read。 And I love that he concludes with a chapter on Heaven and basically that our view of Heaven isn’t big enough！

Susan Forsgren ，

This book was difficult for me to understand。It used language that was old fashioned。

Georgina Spriddell ，

Written in the years before his rejection of evolution and the writing of Narnia， Lewis explores the concept of pain。 This was an intellectual and pleasant read that brought me out of my comfort zone。 However， due to the ignoration of Eden and the Fall in this book， it feels as if Lewis is grasping points out of nowhere without stemming the true source of pain from the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the garden。 A good read， but one that I wouldn't say is obligatory。 Written in the years before his rejection of evolution and the writing of Narnia， Lewis explores the concept of pain。 This was an intellectual and pleasant read that brought me out of my comfort zone。 However， due to the ignoration of Eden and the Fall in this book， it feels as if Lewis is grasping points out of nowhere without stemming the true source of pain from the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the garden。 A good read， but one that I wouldn't say is obligatory。 。。。more

Melis ，

This was very intellectually challenging。

Kirsten Carr ，

I wanted to like this more than I did。 Lewis has some great insight on pain and why it exists。 But， the long winded writing made it hard to follow。 Sometimes throughout the book I paused and thought， what is this even saying？ Unmemorable。 Maybe I will give Lewis another try down the road。

Dee ，

What an MIND！！ "Who would you like to meet。。。 living or dead？" He rates above Oprah， the Dalai Lama or Winston Churchill。。。。 Animals in heaven it the only one， I can not fathom but。。。 I thoroughly enjoyed his treatise and would like to discuss the topics further。。。 I also like "The Four Loves"。。。。 What an MIND！！ "Who would you like to meet。。。 living or dead？" He rates above Oprah， the Dalai Lama or Winston Churchill。。。。 Animals in heaven it the only one， I can not fathom but。。。 I thoroughly enjoyed his treatise and would like to discuss the topics further。。。 I also like "The Four Loves"。。。。 。。。more

Donya Dunlap ，

Best read in small chunks with no distractions。 Not an easy read but solid truth to consider and more than a few unanswered questions to mull over。

Mary-Anne Finlay ，

Audiobook Review I am really enjoying Mr Lewis’s view on different areas。 He has the ability to allow the reader/listener to look at this from different point of views。The narrator also did a great job。

Laura ，

Lewis' writing style （at least in this book） tends to be a bit technical， making this a heavy read。 Lewis' writing style （at least in this book） tends to be a bit technical， making this a heavy read。 。。。more

Renato Bonasera ，

Fantastic as always。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Problem of Pain

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Problem of Pain&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Problem of Pain&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0