Why must humanity suffer? In this elegant and thoughtful work, C. S. Lewis questions the pain and suffering that occur everyday and how this contrasts with the notion of a God that is both omnipotent and good. An answer to this critical theological problem is found within these pages.
The Problem of Pain answers the universal question, "Why would an all-loving, all-knowing God allow people to experience pain and suffering?" Master Christian apologist C.S. Lewis asserts that pain is a problem because our finite, human minds selfishly believe that pain-free lives would prove that God loves us. In truth, by asking for this, we want God to love us less, not more than he does. "Love, in its own nature, demands the perfecting of the beloved; that the mere 'kindness' which tolerates anything except suffering in its object is, in that respect at the opposite pole from Love." In addressing "Divine Omnipotence," "Human Wickedness," "Human Pain," and "Heaven," Lewis succeeds in lifting the reader from his frame of reference by artfully capitulating these topics into a conversational tone, which makes his assertions easy to swallow and even easier to digest. Lewis is straightforward in aim as well as honest about his impediments, saying, "I am not arguing that pain is not painful. Pain hurts. I am only trying to show that the old Christian doctrine that being made perfect through suffering is not incredible. To prove it palatable is beyond my design." The mind is expanded, God is magnified, and the reader is reminded that he is not the center of the universe as Lewis carefully rolls through the dissertation that suffering is God's will in preparing the believer for heaven and for the full weight of glory that awaits him there. While many of us naively wish that God had designed a "less glorious and less arduous destiny" for his children, the fortune lies in Lewis's inclination to set us straight with his charming wit and pious mind. --Jill Heatherly
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
c.s. lewis is a classic:
This book is amazing and it's very insightful. C.S. Lewis is very honest in this book and states clearly his view on pain. I truly enjoyed this book and recommend anything written by him.
The Probelm of Pain:
This is an awesome book. I cant say anymore about it or I would take away from it. If you are struggling to understand why a loving God would allow pain and suffering, then you need to read this book.
Problem Addressed Amiably - But Solved?:
On a recent trip from Europe to Australia, I re-read "The Problem of Pain" and was - as several years before - once again pulled in by Lewis' exquisite prose. He starts off with a bang by describing how he used to see the world when he was an atheist, painting a bleak picture of the kind of universe we live in. Most of it is empty space, he says, dark and cold. The heavenly bodies are really no more than a little dust in this great emptiness. Even if every speck of this dust were inhabited with... more info
Of Human Suffering:
The question or 'problem' that C.S. Lewis sets out to answer in "The Problem of Pain" is one that has confounded believers and non-believers alike: if God is good and loves his creation, why does he allow such pain and suffering to exist? How can that be good and exist within his creation? While Lewis' ponderings may not seem like straightforward answers to those questions, he paints a picture of a God revealed through his creation where even pain and evil can exist. C.S. Lewis is perhaps the best... more info
