The Problem of Pain
C. S. Lewis · Ten chapters and an appendix on suffering, evil, and the goodness of God
About this book
The Problem of Pain is C. S. Lewis’s 1940 book-length answer to one of the oldest objections to faith: if God is both good and all-powerful, why does he allow suffering? Writing as a layman rather than a professional theologian, Lewis works through the meaning of divine omnipotence and goodness, human sin and the Fall, the purposes pain can serve, the hard doctrines of hell and animal suffering, and the hope of heaven. It was one of the first major works of Christian apologetics Lewis published after his own conversion, and it laid groundwork for ideas he would return to throughout his later writing.
Author: C. S. Lewis
First edition: 1940 · Geoffrey Bles: The Centenary Press · London
Genre: Christian apologetics / theodicy
Bibliographic record: Internet Archive (reference only — access-restricted lending copy; not reproduced here)
- 10 chapters
- 1 appendix
- 1940 first published
- English · Apologetics · Suffering & faith
How to use this study companion
This is a guide to Lewis’s book, not a copy of it. The Problem of Pain remains in copyright in the United States (and in the United Kingdom, where it is protected until the author’s copyright term ends), so its text is not reproduced here. For all ten chapters and the appendix you will find the published chapter title, a public-domain King James Scripture passage chosen for that chapter’s theme, an original UECF.NET summary, main themes, key ideas, important concepts, related Bible references, practical application, and questions for personal reflection and small-group discussion.
Read the chapter in the book itself — from a library, a bookseller, or the Internet Archive’s access-restricted lending copy — then use the page here to review, discuss, and apply it. Every page has Previous / Next links, the full table of contents, adjustable text size, dark mode, bookmarks, and search across the whole companion (press Ctrl K). Your reading position and bookmarks are saved in this browser only.
Why the full text isn’t here: the copy of The Problem of Pain on the Internet Archive (problemofpain00lewi_0) is a HarperSanFrancisco / HarperCollins paperback edition held in a controlled, print-disabled lending collection — it can be borrowed there under the Archive’s own access rules, but it is not a public-domain text and UECF.NET has no licence to republish it. The book will not enter the public domain in the United States until 2036, or in the United Kingdom until 2034. See About this web edition for the full copyright determination.
Related: UECF.NET also offers a full web edition of Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters and a study companion to Lee Strobel’s The Case for a Creator.
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Contents
Psalm 8:3–4 · ≈6 min2Divine Omnipotence
Jeremiah 32:17 · ≈6 min3Divine Goodness
Hebrews 12:6 · ≈6 min4Human Wickedness
Romans 3:23 · ≈5 min5The Fall of Man
Romans 5:12 · ≈6 min6Human Pain
Psalm 34:18 · ≈6 min7Human Pain, continued
Matthew 25:35–36 · ≈5 min8Hell
Matthew 7:13–14 · ≈7 min9Animal Pain
Romans 8:19–21 · ≈6 min10Heaven
Romans 8:18 · ≈6 minAA Physician’s Note
Background & bibliography · ≈3 min
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