The Problem of Pain (Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis)

Jason Klay Harrison. Review of C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001). In his 1940 book The Problem of Pain, C. S. Lewis addresses the age old question of pain from a Christian perspective. He begins his theodicy from the perspective of an atheist and quickly moves to pain’s answer through Jesus Christ. The purpose of The Problem...more

Jason Klay Harrison. Review of C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001). In his 1940 book The Problem of Pain, C. S. Lewis addresses the age old question of pain from a Christian perspective. He begins his theodicy from the perspective of an atheist and quickly moves to pain’s answer through Jesus Christ. The purpose of The Problem of Pain is not necessarily to bring comfort to those who are currently suffering, but to “solve the intellectual problem raised by suffering” (xii). Firstly, Lewis makes known that when addressing the problem of pain, the reader should know that he has “never for one moment been in a state of mind to which even the imagination of serious pain was less than intolerable” (xi). From this, the book moves to the intellectual problem raised by the world; “If the universe is so bad, or even half so bad, how on earth did human beings ever come to attribute it to the activity of a wise and good Creator?” (3). Strategically, Lewis carries the reader from the understanding of the Numinous, to morality, and into the question of God’s omnipotence. When addressing divine omnipotence, Lewis tackles the question ‘Is anything impossible for God?’ With this, he leads the reader to the idea of the soul’s freedom and its relationship to pain. Lewis Continues his attack on pain by speaking on an issue that is most common when one speaks of freedom, ‘Is God really a good God?’ He explains how God’s “idea of ‘goodness’ differs from ours; but have no fear that, as you approach it, you will be asked simply to reverse your moral standards” (30). A strong statement no doubt, but Lewis brilliantly explains God’s goodness through the understanding of scripture and carries the reader from God’s goodness and love into human wickedness. With simple language, C. S. Lewis reveals the veil of illusion that evil has placed over humanity’s face by using eight simple considerations which he calls “the first step out of fool’s paradise and utter illusion” (52). Continuing his unveiling process, the reader is then subject to the root of evil in humanity by Lewis’s explanation of the Fall of Man. Through the Fall of Man, Lewis relates “simply that man, as a species, spoiled himself, and that good, to us in our present state, must therefore mean primarily remedial or corrective good,” thus once more proving that God’s goodness is higher than ours (85). Next, the book expounds on human pain and man’s knowledge of such: “Pain is unmasked, unmistakable evil; every man knows that something is wrong when he is being hurt” (90). As one may speculate, to have an exposé on pain the doctrine of Hell must be addressed. Using much tactics, Lewis addresses the doctrine as such: “If a game is played, it must be possible to lose it” (120). “In all discussions of Hell we should keep steadily before our eyes the possible damnation, not of our enemies nor our friends (since both these disturb the reason) but of ourselves” (131). Once more, C. S. Lewis is thorough in solving the “intellectual problem raised by suffering” when he deals with the issue of animal pain (132). This is probably one of the most sought after topics of those addressing the problem of pain. Do animals feel pain as we do? Lewis uses great analogies and insight with deconstructing animal pain. And in closing his book, Lewis writes about Heaven, because as he states “a book on suffering which says nothing of heaven, is leaving out almost the whole of one side of the account” (148). When addressing the Fall of Man, C. S. Lewis uses a similar theodicy to John Hick which was based on the Irenaean theodicy. That is, Lewis saw evolution as a fact of human history and therefore saw no contradictions between it and scripture. He states “the story in Genesis is a story (full of the deepest suggestion) about a magic apple of knowledge; but in the developed doctrine the inherent magic of the apple has quite dropped out of sight, and the story is simply one of disobedience” (66). From this view he then builds his theology of the Fall of Man. Since my theodicy is one which coincides with that of Augustine, a literal historical fall as recorded in scripture, I found this to be the only issue I disagreed with. However, other than this I found the book to very insightful. C. S. Lewis used marvelous talent in unveiling the Christian answer to the problem of pain. Through this book, I have gain a more thorough understanding of the problem of evil and pain in the world and new insights on how to address the issue. If anyone is struggling with how to deal with the intellectual problem of pain from a Christian view this would be a great start. Bibliography Lewis, C. S. The Problem of Pain. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001.   hide