This book is a very deep and thought-provoking examination of the role that pain and suffering play in the world. If it is read carefully and with reflection adequate to ensure full understanding of the author’s theses, premises, and conclusions, The Problem of Pain provides an excellent answer to the question “How can a good, a loving, God allow or tolerate pain and injustice to exist in His creation?”
With careful, well-constructed analogies and deep, serious consideration of the subject, C.S. Lewis dissects this question and the arguments for and against a God who can allow deformities, untimely deaths, and physical suffering (among other things) being called “loving” or “good.” Lewis brings his own life experiences into the picture, including his pre-Christian period of agnosticism and atheism.
This book will take you a while to read, as it is, though a small book, extremely deep and requires, therefore, a good bit of contemplation time. Not a book for frivolous amusement, The Problem of Pain is an important, and perhaps crucial, addition to any private library for its honest and searching look at the human condition and the question of a “good” God allowing suffering.