Test #4: C. S. Lewis' THE PROBLEM OF PAIN

 Introductory Questions:

   1.  Respond to the following statement made by Somerset Maugham in his
 essay "Pain": "No more stupid apology for pain has ever been devised than
 that it elevates.  It is an explanation due to the necessity of justifying
 pain from the _________________ (fill in the blank)  point of view."
   your response:




   2.  The problem of pain in its simplest form is as follows:
         "If God were ________, He would wish to make His creatures perfectly
 happy, and if God were ___________________, He would be able to do what He
 wished.  But the creatures are not happy.  Therefore God lacks either
 ______________ or _______________."

   3. A theodicy is: ____________________________________________

   4. What have been some traditional answers given to the question of why
 God allows evil and suffering in the world:
    a. __________________________________________________
    b. __________________________________________________
    c. __________________________________________________
    d. __________________________________________________
    e. __________________________________________________

   5. What does Paul Little mean when he states: "The same sun melts the
 butter and hardens the clay."

 from THE PROBLEM OF PAIN:

   1. The literary form in which THE PROBLEM OF PAIN is written is
         _________________________________

   2. C. S. Lewis dedicated this book to _______________________
   
   3. What is the significance of the following quote by George Macdonald at
 the beginning of this work?
         "The Son of God suffered unto the death, not that men might not suffer,
 but that their sufferings might be like His."
   4.  Lewis' only purpose in writing THE PROBLEM OF PAIN was
         to ______________________________________________________

   5.  Why did Lewis consider the argument from nature to show God's
 existence weak?


   6.  What inferential leap did Lewis consider preposterous?


   7. What two possible explanations could be given to explain this leap?
         a. ________________________________________
         b. ________________________________________

   8.  Although various strands or elements exist in all developed religions,
 what is the added strand in Christianity?
      ________________________________________________________

   9.  Does God have the power to do anything?  Why or why not?


  10. Why does God not use His power to make men happy (without them
 experiencing evil and suffering)?  (from Ch. 2)
  11.  "What we would here and now call our ‘happiness' is not the end God
 chiefly has in view." If this is so, what is the end God chiefly has in
 view concerning man?

  12.  What brought about the condition of pain and suffering in the first
 place?


   13.  Complete the following sentence: "A recognition of the old sense of
 _____ is essential to Christianity."
         In what sense is this true?


  14.  According to Lewis, what accounts for 4/5 of the sufferings of man?


  15.  In what sense is pain God's megaphone?


  16.  Why does God withhold settled happiness in this world?


  17.  Although Lewis would gladly remove the doctrine of Hell from
 Christianity if he could, what three reasons does he give why he cannot?
         a. _______________________________________
         b. ________________________________________
         c. ________________________________________

  18.  How does Lewis reply to the following objection to Hell?
      "The ultimate loss of a single soul means the defeat of omnipotence."
     Lewis' response:


   19.  In what sense is Hell locked from the inside?


  20.  What are some things that characterize Lewis' depiction of heaven in
 Ch. 10?    a. ____________________________________
         b. ____________________________________
  
  21. What are some ways in which Dr. R. Havard observed effects of pain as
 recounted in the Appendix differ from Somerset Maugham's depiction?
         a. _________________________________________________
         b. _________________________________________________
         c. __________________________________________________


    What have you learned about pain and suffering from reading THE PROBLEM
 OF PAIN and viewing THROUGH THE SHADOWLANDS?
         a. _________________________________________________
         b. _________________________________________________
         c. _________________________________________________

 Final Response Question:   Clyde S. Kilby has written: "Lewis is fully
 aware that in this book he does not solve all the problems entailed in pain
 and evil.  Yet it is hard to conceive how in so small a volume they could
 be faced more squarely or treated more honestly or effectively."
         Do you agree?  Why or why not?