The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis was first published in 1940 and in it, Lewis argues that pain, hell, and the existence of evil are not sufficient reasons to reject belief in a good and powerful God. Reading this book killed two birds with one stone for me (if I may borrow the colloquialism) in that 1) I try to read something by C.S. Lewis every year, and 2) I chose to read The Problem of Pain to fill the "book about a topic that fascinates you" category for Modern Mrs Darcy's 2019 Reading Challenge.
First, let me explain why this book fits that category for me. It's not that pain in and of itself fascinates me—I'm not a sadist—but that the problem of pain is fascinating. As a Christian, I have had to grapple with this problem myself, and the problem of pain seems to be one of the biggest reasons people reject God. If there is a God and He is good and He is all-powerful, how can He allow such horrible pain to exist on such a global scale? Why are children starving? Why do people die of cancer? Why are wars and genocide and terrorism part of life on this earth?
In this slim volume, Lewis sets out to address these tough questions stating:
'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. The possibility of answering it depends on showing that the terms 'good' and 'almighty', and perhaps also the term 'happy', are equivocal: for it must be admitted from the outset that if the popular meanings attached to these words are the best, or the only possible, meanings, then the argument is unanswerable.
So here's the thing about C.S. Lewis. Every time I read something he's written, I find that my mind has been stimulated and my faith has been encouraged. He always makes me think. I appreciate his unwavering honesty. Throughout The Problem of Pain, he never claims to have the solution. He makes it clear that as humans who can't see the big picture from God's perspective we shouldn't expect to fully understand all the aspects and nuances of human suffering and the presence of evil and how it all fits into God's purpose and plan for humanity. And I love that about him and his writing.
But, once again, in The Problem of Pain as in The Great Divorce (which I read earlier this year), I found myself disagreeing with Lewis on certain points of doctrine. For example, in The Problem of Pain Lewis naturally dives into Creation and the Fall of Man in talking about the origin of evil. I personally believe that God created the world and everything in it in six literal days. Lewis does not. What was so interesting to me in reading The Problem of Pain is that even though certain points of our doctrinal beliefs may differ, Lewis and I usually come to the same conclusions. In reading Lewis, Augustine's maxim "in essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity" often comes to mind. His writing embodies that so well.
And this is why I keep reading Lewis. His writing helps to challenge my long-held (and sometimes taken-for-granted) beliefs and cement them even more firmly in my heart. I appreciate the respectful tone of his writing. Other Christian writers can come off as know-it-alls at times which is a big turnoff, and Lewis isn't that way.
As with The Great Divorce, I wouldn't necessarily recommend The Problem of Pain to a C.S. Lewis newbie, but overall, as with everything I've read by Lewis so far, I thought The Problem of Pain was excellent and worth your time if it's something you're even mildly interested in reading.
What are your thoughts on the problem of pain, the coexistence of a loving God and human suffering?
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