The Problem of Pain by C. S. Lewis Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Problem of Pain
Book Review: Incredible Answers
Summary: 5 Stars
Even though this book is thin, it took me a long time to make it through the first 3 chapters because there is so much food for thought. Chapter 3 especially changed the way I look at things. This is an important read for anyone who has ever asked "Why me?" or said "It doesn't seem fair". Or even for anyone who wants to experience a level of writing far beyond the normal read. I bought this book and made it through chapter 3 before giving it away to a friend in need, and had to buy a new one because I was desperate to read the rest.Book Review: Insights Presented for and to and about Christians
Summary: 5 Stars
I would recommend this book--The Problem of Pain--very strongly to the Christian reader. Certainly, the thrust of this book is NOT to convince agnostics and atheists of the validity of the Christian platform, and anyone choosing to live in the Fool's Paradise that is agnosticism will come away from a reading of this book just as incredulous and empirically-minded as before. As any well-versed Christian knows, a testimony of God and of Christ comes not through study and reason alone. Any agnostic or atheist wishing to investigate the fundamental claims of Christianity would be better off studying C.S. Lewis' "God in the Dock," or "The Grand Miracle"(an abridged version of "God in the Dock").
Chiefly, I think that this book is meant to help Christians--or those with Judeo-Christian leanings--to reconcile the existence of pain with the realities of God's mercy, benevolence, and grace. Christians--and people of many other religions--believe life in the universe to be the result of a deliberate and calculated act of creation (nothing random or irrational, as the agnostics postulate). In light of this fact, a great number of Christians wonder why God would knowingly and intentionally create a world in which pain and sin had the possibility of being introduced.
Lewis very accutely observes, in this book, that free will--while certainly POSSIBLE without the option to commit evil--would be utterly WORTHLESS without the option to commit evil. As I have prayerfully contemplated this doctrine, I have come to know if its truth. For instance, when my father or mother told me--and still tell me--that they love me, it was and is deeply meaningful because I know that they CHOOSE to love me. If all my parents could possibly have done was love me, with no active decision on their part to do so, their love would have no meaning. They COULD have chosen to abandon or abuse me, but they did not. And that gives meaning, indeed, to all of their love and nurturing. We do not congratulate fish for breathing under water, after all (it's the only way they possibly can breathe!).
Lewis also observes, with emphasis, the fact that Jesus Christ could only have been one of two things: A lunatic or a God. The combined multitude of witnesses that knew Him--according to both Scriptural and Non-Scriptural documentation--affirm that if there was one thing Jesus constantly declared it was His own Godhood, and His Sonship to God the Father. When all of the evidence is taken into account, the representation universally set forth is that Jesus of Nazareth claimed to be God. Some denied it, some believed it, but all knew that this was, at least, His claim.
And, of course, all things taken into consideration, only a madman would have even the slightest inclination to make such claims unless the claims were true. Jim Jones and David Koresh are two primary examples of men who falsely claimed to be God, and who were, as is undoubtedly known, both certifiably insane.
Lewis makes the point, also, that with pain comes humility, and with humility comes receptiveness to God. If we were never to experience pains or disappointments in life, we would always take our blessings and gifts for granted. Either that, or we would worship the gifts (blessings) instead of the Gift-giver (God).
The point is also made--and it agrees perfectly with Emerson's essay on the Law of Compensation--that every "loss" in life is, in reality, a sacrifice offered to the acquisition of something else: If a man loses his left arm, he develops an impressivley strong right arm; If a woman loses a husband to death, she is relieved of her duties as wife, and thus is free to go about doing other things.
Finally, the Tester and the tested are both positively identified. Unfortunately, many--including some professed Christians--assume to be testing God. If, for example, they read in the newspapers of an elderly man shot down and robbed by thugs, they will say, "God failed him." But, the fact is, through all of the tribulations and turmoils of life, WE are the ones being tested, NOT God. God is already the paragon of absolute perfection. We, on the other hand, must prove ourselves in the test that is life (and, in the case of thugs robbing elderly men, such thugs fail the test quite horribly).
To love and adore God in a perfect world--a world without pain or opposition--would be no major accomplishment. But, to love and adore Him in spite of all temptation and adversity is a most supreme accomplishment.
This is a most praiseworthy book!
Book Review: Interesting and Thought-provoking.
Summary: 5 Stars
In "The Problem of Pain" Lewis deciphers a very trying question for the whole of Christianity - why must humanity suffer. Many atheists argue that if God were both omnipotent and good, why does he allow such a world of pain to exist? Lewis answers this question and many others in a style that can easily be compared with a learned scholar, not a layman.While I don't agree with all of Lewis's suppositions in "The Problem of Pain" (namely some of the statements found in the chapter "The Fall of Man" dealing with the origins of the human species), he still by and large offers up a very convincing case deeply rooted in the best Christian doctrine around - The Bible. The problem of pain for the Christian may be summed up rather simply: 1) Man, not God, was and is the creator and instigator of pain through Adam's sin. 2) Pain is a megaphone God uses to speak to us - sharply perhaps, uncomfortably, even unbearably - but if pain did not exist, would the joy and peace of God's love be the same? God uses pain to rouse a deaf world, to let us all know that something is wrong, that we need something beyond ourselves. 3) While life can be exceedingly painful at times, there is always the happiness, the sunrises and the mountain streams, for us to enjoy. Pain allows us see joy even more clearly. As Lewis himself writes, "Our Father refreshed us on the journey with some pleasant Inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home."
An interesting and thought-provoking read from the 20th century's greatest Christian theologian, apologist, and "layman".
Book Review: It Hurts Me More Than It Hurts You
Summary: 4 Stars
Lewis does an excellent job of conveying his reasoning for pain's necessary existence, though as other reviewer's have noted, if you have no concept or acceptance in the existence of a God, then this book would seem no more than an inept grouping of essays from yet another of "God's sheep." I had often pondered the thought as to why God allowed such atrocity to exist in the world, but this book did definitely lead me to a greater understanding of why, from God's perspective, that such things must be as they are. Essentially, Lewis says it is for the greater good of mankind and that it proves God's love for us, for pain more often than not drives us closer to the God who so wants our communion, (that same God that we so often neglect to commune with when all is going well) though Lewis does readily admit that at times pain creates feelings of bitterness or resentment towards God.
Lewis does not try to obscure the fact that he probably tolerated pain no better than anyone else. In both the exposition of his vulnerabilities as a person that he makes throughout the book and the scriptural references he uses to back up what he says, Lewis does an outstanding job of conveying the message that God would neither have given us free will nor pain if he did not love us with complete abandon. Definitely recommended reading for any Christian seeking a better understanding as to why hardships must be endured.
Book Review: LOVED IT...and I love CS Lewis
Summary: 5 Stars
This book can change the way you view things, if you let it. If you are looking for a book that is relevant now, as it was when it was written, and will be relevant still in 100 years, read this book. And then re-read it often. CS Lewis was ahead of his time...still is. Awesome book.