Pain is a Problem?

C.S. Lewis wrote many books which actually chronicle his own journey through life, and one of those books is entitled The Problem of Pain. In this book, which is considered by many to be one of his most well written and beautifully delivered works, C.S. Lewis attempts to tackle what he calls the problem presented to the Christian by the issue of pain. This problem is more than a problem; it is a horror filled war raging from the halls of academia to the silent nights spent in a lonely hospital room. Philosopher David Hume artfully captured the problem of evil in this way:

Is he [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?

This question is posed many different ways in many different situations, so answering it requires the Christian to be prepared to “give an account for the joy within us” even in the face of great tragedy. Broadly speaking, there are two situations in which a believer will run across this question: pastorally and philosophically.

The pastoral situation is the most common way in which a Christian will encounter the Problem of Evil. If you are involved in the local church then you cannot avoid dealing with painful situations; it is part of living life with other people and sharing their burdens. I currently serve in a church which has a high attendance record of somewhere around sixty five. Yet even in this little church I have come face to face with the victims of cancer, Parkinson’s, crippling arthritis, premature death, and many other evils which are not brought forth by the people themselves. When these people who have lived in faithful service to Christ’s Kingdom look at you and ask ”why does God allow these things to happen,” you have encountered the pastoral problem of evil. These are the people looking to a spiritual brother for comfort about the One who is truly in control.

The other form of the Problem of Evil which a believer will encounter comes from the nonbeliever attempting to disprove Christianity by proving the impotence of God. This situation is wholly different than the pastoral problem. This instance calls for true apologetics. Stand up in the face of those who scoff and scorn and provide an answer! Far from defeating Christianity, this challenge has led to many of the most fruitful evangelistic encounters I have ever had, and let me be clear on this point. APOLOGETICS SHOULD BE SYNONOMIS WITH EVANGELISM!!! If your apologetic method does not lead to evangelism, then you are not addressing the true problem of evil, because Christ is the answer! Now, back to the philosophical problem of evil; I believe that the best way to answer this can be posed through a theodicy.

A theodicy is a defense of Christianity in the face of the problem of evil which attempts to redefine one of the ingredients in the three part syllogism stated by Hume. The usual method is to redefine evil. By this I mean that we should recognize the difference in the way that humans experience and understand evil and the way that God created and uses what we label as evil. My defense for redefining evil is a simple one with two parts. First, I don’t think you can redefine God’s omnipotence or omnibenevolence without crippling the image of God as fully containing both of those attributes. Secondly, God repeatedly uses what we would call evil for the good of his own creation. First and foremost among this category is the work of Christ on the cross. If the most heinously evil action in the history of creation is actually the most impossible graceful and good action ever done for humanity then it is easy to imagine that our temporary suffering has a more eternal implication. This should serve as both a comfort to those going through a pastoral crisis and an open pathway to share Christ with those playing philosophical games.

So if you find yourself confronted by the Problem of Evil, remember three things:

1. God is in control. The book of Job deals almost exclusively with the Problem of Pain up until the point at which God answers Job’s questions, but from the point at which God speaks until the end of the book of Job, God makes clear the real answer to the problem of pain. His answer to dealing with pain is simply continued faith in God’s omnipotence and goodness.

2. Deal with the individual and their question. Do not use this as a platform to wax eloquent about “the weight of God’s glory evidenced through the sacrifices of his followers” or some other really intelligent sounding, stupid answer.

3. Pray. If it is a believer, pray with them. If it is a nonbeliever, pray for them, because Christ is the real answer they need