Lewis always has a way with words--even if I don't like his argument (and even if *he* doesn't even like his argument), he usually makes sense. Some of the arguments in the book I *did* like, though. The image sticks in my head of human beings wanting a "grandfather" in Heaven instead of a father--someone who caters to our every whim and makes life comfortable for us rather than trying us and testing us.

The guy who read the audiobook was good, too, even though it was a bit hard to follow in that format. I listened to this with my husband in the car and we got some good conversations out of it. ( )

Book 68 - CS Lewis - The Problem of Pain

I love CS Lewis. I love his writing. I love that as an intellectual he didn’t have such a big head that he thought God was too small for him. The ‘Narnia’ books are still a master class in storytelling. Indeed they were the Harry Potter saga many decades before Harry Potter. Interestingly told out of order...but I digress. I was intrigued by ‘The Screwtape Letters’ enough to want to read it - See Book 36 for further ramblings.

But...but..I have probably read my last Lewis book. The problem with ‘The Problem of Pain’ is that it reads like a lecture...it is hard work and although I don’t mind hard work...I like a little bit of give when I read...

I am still not quite sure what the point of the book actually was...but then that happens when I am struggling with a book...but here are a few thoughts...

God loves us as we are...’He has never regarded us with contempt’ - just think on that for a moment...in all our failings...and our fallings ...God loves us...here and now...no matter what has been in our heads and in our hearts...God loves us

Interestingly Lewis’ answer to the age old question, ‘What have I ever done to God that I should be treated like this?’ is that we left God alone...we pushed Him away and aside...we ignored Him and we were ignorant of Him.

Lewis does not try and explain away pain in any sort of glib way or try to dismiss it as...you know...pain happens...live with it...

He faces it and tries to say simply, God loves us...the problem of pain is not trying to understand why, but that pain is there because of the Fall...we have heartache and hardships and pains and agonies because of sin.

I remember many moons ago when struggling with several things at once...getting to the point where I thought...I can’t take any more...God says...’I love you...I will take it’.

Life is hard so we can lean more and more on Him and not push Him away...we need to embrace Him all the more...God is love.

1 John 4 v 10 ‘Herein is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us.’

Maybe I should try another book written by Lewis...I took in more than I thought ( )

How Human suffering raises almost intolerable intellectual problems

I always enjoy reading CS Lewis, even if I'm not exactly the intended audience anymore. This is again, another good thesis/essay by Clive, but for some reason, this seems far more jargon-y and not really getting down to the "brass tax" of what its supposed to be about. Seems like he doesn't truly tackle and go on about the true "problem of pain" and its more or less a work-around to discuss what he wants to talk about with regards to Christianity and man's view and take on it.

The chapters are also broken down into weird ways and the long (3 page paragraphs!) paragraphs and writing style compared to some of his other essays makes this wordier and with much more filler than need be and previously done.

I have to say I wish there was a fair bit more 'meat' on it, and would also wish there was tackling of this from an atheistic perspective (obviously I know going in, I wouldn't be getting that perspective from Lewis). ( )

A neatly composed argument for the placement of pain within God's overall plan. To get to the argument, though, Lewis has to take us through his personal theology at the base of it. Although one might not agree with everything - and some might be turned off by the vocab/writing style - his overall points seem sound and worthy of discussion. ( )