The Problem of Pain (1940)

Intellectual. Not good if you are looking for help through some current pain or suffering. He asks some weird questions a couple times, otherwise, solid. ( )

Published 1959

ESP-118

The "pain" in the book title refers to suffering. (The author took the step to define this in chapter 2. ) This is a book on the Christian view on suffering. The chapters go through the unavoidability of suffering given that human has free will and there are multiple human beings on this earth with multiple free wills, the goodness of God, the various effects of suffering on human character and mind, hell as the ultimate form of suffering, whether animals suffer and whether they go to heaven, and heaven as hope for humans enduring suffering. It's a good, thoughtful book.

It's not light reading. For many days it was my go-to book before bedtime because it makes me sleepy lol But the last two chapters on animal suffering and heaven are much more riveting and didn't make me fall asleep any more :P

I like how the author stressed that this book aims to satisfy the intellectual curiosity on the problem of why there was suffering in the world rather than console or guide people actually experiencing trials and tribulations. The author freely admitted he would probably act pretty badly when facing suffering. I think this will help readers understand this book better and approach A Grief Observed from a more appropriate starting point. ( )

Lewis tackles the question: if God is all-good and all-powerful, why do we suffer? I’ve read other things on this topic from other writers, so I was familiar with the basic arguments already, but I think Lewis explains it all really well. ( )