The Problem of Pain
by C. S. Lewis, James Simmons · first published 1940
100% recommend
Why HN recommends it
Lewis offers a theological treatment of suffering and pain, presenting a thoughtful, philosophical view on why suffering exists. It suits readers of theodicy and the problem of evil.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Why must humanity suffer? In this elegant and thoughtful work, C. S. Lewis questions the pain and suffering that occur everyday and how this contrasts with the notion of a God that is both omnipotent and good. An answer to this critical theological problem is found within these pages. "If God is good and all-powerful, why does he allow his creatures to suffer pain?" And what about the suffering of animals, who neither deserve pain nor can be improved by it? The greatest Christian thinker of our time sets out to disentangle these knotty issues. With his signature wealth of compassion and ins
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A bunch of books by Kahlil Gibran. Read The Prophet twice. One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez The Problem Of Pain by C S Lewis Disgrace by J M Coetzee The Road by Cormac McCarthy Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek On Writing by Stephen King Atonement by Ian McEwan Dictionary…
on “Ask HN: Great books you read in 2009?” ↗Someone here recommended The Problem of Pain and A Grief Observed, and I would add Mere Christianity and The Four Loves.
on “Ask HN: Best books on the psychology of religion?” ↗The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E. B. White The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker The Problem of Pain by C. S. Lewis
on “Ask HN: Good non-fiction books without filler?” ↗The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E. B. White The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker The Problem of Pain by C. S. Lewis The Mac Is Not a Typewriter by Robin Williams Getting Real by 37 Signals
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite non-fiction books of all time?” ↗…conscience is. But it's not like that. It's a sense that it was objectively wrong, and so it would be wrong for me to take your shirt even though it improves my situation. I also recommend his book The Problem of Pain, which talks about man's long history of belief in the supernatural, despite the outlandishness of the idea. C. S. Lewis was an atheist until his early 30s. He taught at Oxford and then Cambridge, during…
on “Ask HN: How to stop being cynical all the time?” ↗I was never an atheist, but one of my favorite writers was until his 30s: C. S. Lewis. You might try some of his slim books: The Problem of Pain or Mere Christianity.
on “Ask HN: Ex-atheists/agnostics, I will be 50 y/0 soon. Should I explore Faith?” ↗…Language in Thought and Action 6) Steven Johnson's Emergence 7) Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel 8) Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything 9) Mark Buchanan's Nexus 10) C. S. Lewis's The Problem of Pain Taken together, these books cover just about everything there is to know about the sciences, about human history, human nature and how to understand and communicate effectively with other people. Only…
on “What books would you recommend reading? Why?” ↗Not sure where you're at with philosophy, but "The Problem of Pain" by C.S. Lewis blew me away and changed a lot of my thinking about suffering and reality.
on “Ask HN: What are some deep, mentality changing books?” ↗My fault for not reading the article fully. For the curious reader, C. S. Lewis wrote a great piece on this called, "The Problem of Pain." "We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world."…
on “A Planet of Parasites and the Problem with God” ↗