Studying the Problem of Pain

On my third time through one of his books I am learning that C.S. Lewis is not easy reading. But he is well worth the effort.

As I had posted earlier, someone from our Wednesday Night Bible Study suggested we next take up one of Lewis' books. I gave it prayerful (or thoughtful) consideration and decided to go for it. When I presented the idea to the group some, well, most were a bit reluctant. They agreed to it provided I write a study guide with Scripture to support each chapter.

There are ten chapters. Lewis is elegant in his logic so it is not difficult to outline his reasoning. His introduction covers "why I wrote this book" kind of themes. In the following two chapters he considers the person of God - first he details God's all powerful nature, then he explores the goodness of God. By doing that he sets up the classical problem of pain - how can a God who is all powerful and perfectly good allow pain and suffering? If suffering happens apart from God's will, then God is not omnipotent (almighty) - if He can stop suffering and chooses not to, he cannot be a good God. So the false choice is between a God who can't or a God who won't end human torment.

In the next two chapters Lewis turns his keen intellect and sharp wit toward the human condition. If God's goodness is in question, human wickedness is clearly not. It would take someone with very dark rose colored glasses to deny that people are, as one of my parishioners once put it, "no damn good."

After establishes the goodness of God and the wickedness of human beings, he get on with the subject of the book. Two chapters on human pain, per se. After this the book is basically ended. He ends his argument on the problem of pain and suffering.

His final three chapters deal with topic loosely associated with main notion of the book. He considers Hell, Animal Pain, and Heaven.

This book is not difficult to comprehend but my task is to help others understand its message - that, my friends is, as they say across the pond, a "kettle of another fish."