Tumnus’s Book Shelf: The NarniaFans Book Reviews. The Problem of Pain

Welcome to Tumnus’s Book Shelf where we review any and all books related to The Chronicles of Narnia and CS Lewis! For today’s book we will be covering CS Lewis’s The Problem of Pain.

Title: Problem of Pain

Author: CS Lewis
Publisher: HarperOne
ISBN-10: 0060652969
ISBN-13: 978-0060652968

Summary:

From the question of God’s omnipotence and his love, to the topics of Heaven and Hell, and the pains of animals, CS Lewis examines the age old philosophical quandary of the problem of pain. Brushed with his usual style and loaded with “hard stuff”, Problem of Pain, examines not only the very nature of human suffering and God’s love for us, but the necessity of pain.

Review:

Ever since we were all small children we have always wondered why some things in life have to hurt so much. Be it getting a shot at the doctors, having teeth pulled, to saying good bye to a friend, or loosing a lover, there are just some things in life that are simply ‘painful”. We all want to know simply why must there be pain in this world, and better yet, why would a good God allow pain?

CS Lewis was certainly not the first author to attempt to address the question and nor will he be the last. But he was certainly one of the best persons to deal with it. He lost his mother at a young age, and later would encounter that same feeling as his beloved wife would die. A veteran of World War I, Lewis was wounded in combat, and saw many of his close friends fall, including one of his best friends, Paddy Moore, and saw many other war time horrors. Who better to try an unravel the mysteries of pain and suffering then some one who went through one of the 20^th centuries bloodiest wars?

Lewis carefully looks at the various aspects of suffering, from the pains of humans, to physical pain, to the pains of animals, and finally Heaven and Hell. The chapter on animal pain is by no means completely conclusive, as it is impossible for a human to completely understand what an animal is thinking or feeling, but considering Lewis is known for making an imaginary country were animals can talk it is not surprising. At the same time, I think anyone who seriously loves animals, especially their pets, is going to ask about that.

The most notable aspect of this book is Lewis’ profound statement on pain, that it is God’s way of rousing our attention and trying to get us to let go of this world. So many people, when thinking about pain, simply say, “ don’t worry, God has a plan, it will work out in the end.” This answer that Lewis gives is something so different. Instead of trying to glibly assure readers of a happy life on this Earth, Lewis tries to remind us of a better life in Heaven.

Lewis doesn’t shy away from the difficult aspects of pain, namely that many wonder how a “good God” who is so loving can allow pain. He tackles the questions and answers them as only Lewis could try to do. Reading it, you honestly have the feeling he knows what he is talking about. This is furthered by the fact he cites scriptures, and numerous church fathers to back his claims.

Due to the subject matter, while Lewis’s writing style is certainly present, this book is much harder to get through than the rest of Lewis’s non-fiction. Pain is a difficult thing to think about. When you are going through a time of great happiness, you don’t want to think of pain. More importantly, we don’t want to think of Hell. Hell itself has been all but expelled from Christian doctrine as it is seen as too harsh. Lewis deals with Hell full on as well as Heaven and reminds us that we are not made for a place like Hell and that those sufferings we experience are to ward us off from going there.

Lewis also reminds us that pain is inevitable in life. Readers hoping for Lewis to give an easy answer to the problem of pain will not find it here. They will simply find another one of their fellow human beings seeking to understand the human condition, and doing it quite eloquently.

Does CS Lewis come to a satisfactory answer for the Problem of Pain ? That is up to the individual reader. Certainly, this book did not garner it’s writer a Nobel Peace Prize. That is not what Lewis intended. He just sought to understand pain and suffering and share that understanding with us. We will always be struggling with the questions of pain and suffering until Christ returns, but with the help Lewis’s wit and wisdom we can at least try to understand it a bit better.

4 ½ out of 5 shields.

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