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The Problem of Pain by C. S. Lewis (2001, Paperback)
C. S. Lewis
$3.55
The Problem of Pain
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The Problem of Pain
C. S. Lewis
06th February 2001
$9.35
The Problem of Pain
C. S. Lewis
06th February 2001
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NEW The Problem of Pain - C. S. Lewis 9780060652968
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NEW The Problem of Pain - C. S. Lewis 9780060652968
Reviews 
a perspective on conveyance
02nd September 2010
There are things in life that can be learned which cannot be taught.
For some of those things it is a matter of audience.
I remember a song from a couple years ago which contained, roughly, "You never know what God is going to use to reach you." In particular, there was a line about having to say goodbye to someone who left too soon.
The moral of the song was, again roughly, "that which is bad, is actually good, when you belong to Jesus."
I think it is perfectly fine to have this realization *for yourself*.
I can quite see someone in the grip of loss, steadfast in their faith, come to God and worship and cling to His sufficiency and providence.
But I think this realization loses all of its power when you try to translate it to the 2nd person.
"Hey, you should worship God because of this."
Whether this conveyance is true or not, the message is lost.
The moral compass of the hearer almost becomes a raging beast, "What right have you to tell me to submit to this injustice."
That's why I didn't like the song much then.
I like it even less today.
This is because I now have a brother and a friend who have both been asked to make the sacrifice of Abraham, their child. Or if the analogy breaks down, because Abraham made a choice, the sacrifice of Job, which was to worship through the loss.
So if one is going to talk about someone's pain, one is, from the outset, choosing to be indelicate. He is choosing to talk in 2nd person about those things which experienced in 1st person sweep one directly into the throes of existence and mortality.
That said, The Problem Of Pain is about as delicately indelicate as can be achieved on the matter.
Can anything good come from Nazareth? ... or Pain?
23rd August 2010
In the beginning of Saint John's gospel, Philip finds Nathaniel and excitingly tells him, "We have found the [Messiah], Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth!" Nathaniel's obviously less than enthusiastic response was, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" (Jn 1:45-46). I think if we approached a friend and told that friend, "I have a new richer outlook about pain!" Our friend would most assuredly respond very glumly, "Can anything good come from pain?" Let me qualify that statement! Our friend would reply thus, unless they had read "The Problem of Pain" by C. S. Lewis.
This book is based on the claim and belief that underlies all Lewis' works, and that Nathaniel quickly found out, that something good did come out of Nazareth! With his extraordinarily rare brilliance that mystifies his readers, Lewis takes a subject that does not make sense, cannot be understood, and cannot be readily accepted. Startlingly, we then marvel as his incredible mind begins to make sense of all this, so that we, the reader, can begin to understand, and learn to accept to some degree, certainly in this case, one of the most difficult aspects of life that many people have to face or experience.
Nathaniel did not just swallow what Philip said; but, he accepted the invitation, "Come and see!" We certainly do not have to buy this whole matter blindly. I even propose that we do not even have to read the entire book! We just need to go and see for ourselves. Begin to read the book and see what happens!
Great Book-- Disappointing Format
23rd May 2010
I'm a great fan of CS Lewis, and I've been eager to load his books on my Kindle. This one, however, I couldn't even get through. Whoever put the book into Kindle format didn't pay attention to good grammar, and there are apostrophes all over the place. Where it should say "its" you see "it's" and so on. This doesn't happen just a time or two, but many times. Enough that I'm looking into returning the book to Amazon. I don't know if they'll do that, but if it were a physical book, I'd take it back to the store for a refund.
Hopefully Kindle's other CS Lewis books don't have this problem...
A tiny gem of a book with a treasure chest of insights . . . .
06th November 2009
I think this was the first book by Lewis I had exposure to. I was 15 to 16 years old, and I remember not being able to know what I was reading, but falling in love with however it was being said. It was through this book that I came to love not just Lewis, but reading in general. Over time, I became a better reader and this book has had a huge impact on my life.
I shall never forget reading the first couple paragraphs of the chapter on Heaven. I remember reading them over and over again, cherishing how true his longings mirrored my own. I remember pulling aside anyone I could get a hold of and reading this beautiful passage. Almost without fail, whenever I read these passages to others, they are stricken with delight, and touched by that same stab of joy Lewis himself felt all those years ago as a child in Ireland.
As a philosopher major, I can testify to Lewis' philosophical abilities. He is an able philosopher with remarkable philosophical intuitions. He is one of the finest writer of pros I've come across, and his style has made me fall in love with the English language.
As for the content, Lewis probes one of the deepest mysteries in life: the riddle of pain in a Christian universe. And there are no easy answers. Having read Plantinga, van Inwagen, and Alston, though these world-class philosophers do great, I prefer Lewis. There is a tone in Lewis' pros that is almost deliciously Christ-like, a sweet aroma that makes you feel like you're being talked to by someone who isn't here to mock you or make you feel stupid. He is here - as he once said - like a patient in the same hospital, who has been here a little longer, and has learned some tips on how to cope.
His chapter on Animal Pain is the most speculative (as he admits), but his speculations are thought provoking, taking away from the beasts self-consciousness, leaving them with sentience. The logic is that if you take away self-consciousness, the beast can't discern an 'I' which experiences successive states of pain: in other words, there is no 'I' to connect together all the successive pain states.
The Fall entertains Lewis' theory about how the rational faculties - once man disobeyed - sunk beneath the tide of the passions and became subject to them, all within the historical context of biological evolution: once man evolved sufficiently, rational capacities were directly implanted by God, giving us the Adam and Eve of Scripture.
The Chapter on Hell was the most unclear to me, even after the Peter Kreeft commmentary you can find in his books on Heaven. In Hell, the 'I' is abolished, and so there is no unifying 'I' to tie together the various facets of the soul, like a book without a spine, the pages eternally blown away. Time is no longer linear succession or progression - time stops growing in length, and the soul somehow lingers in this eternal final instant where - mysteriously - the soul is destined to linger in time's eternal width. If you imagine time as a line, then eternity in Hell is like a plane; or if you imagine time as a plane, then eternity is like a cube. Just as the plane is a dimension of the cube, time is a dimension of eternity.
As you can see, Lewis' speculations build upon the speculations of past philosophies about these issues. Lewis confesses to be standing on the shoulder's of giants, and when he himself is a titan, we are able to see very far indeed.
The best thing about Lewis is that even if you disagree with him, the presentation is given in a logical order, with clearly written pros, illuminating analogies, and penetrating insights into the human condition.
A must read!
Very Helpful
01st November 2009
C.S. Lewis is never light reading. He is highly educated and challenges the intellect. Which is good. Especially for a topic such as this.
He explains the age old question - If God is Good, and if God is all powerful, and if God is loving, then why is there pain and suffering in the world?
Lewis starts out presenting the problem. He explains that if there was no God, then there would be no problem. If life is mere chance, then the fact that there is pain would be a non-issue.
So where did we come up with this idea of a good and loving God? Certainly not by looking around us! Pain, suffering and injustice are older than recorded history.
He then proceeds to explain that in a universe where the creatures have free will, there is going to be a chance that one of us its going to hurt someone else. For example, God made wood which can be used for many purposes. It can be used to make fine furniture; or to make a baseball bat which can be used for fun, or can be used to hurt someone else.
This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to be able to explain the problem of pain to themselves, or to those who who are skeptical or searching.
Reviews supplied by customers at Amazon.com
