C.S. Lewis's book The Problem of Pain was first published in 1940. It examines why suffering exists and how Christian theology approaches pain, evil, free will, and human nature.
The book appeared during the Second World War, when questions about suffering and evil had immediate significance for many readers. Lewis wrote it as an argument about Christian belief rather than as a personal memoir of grief.
Readers sometimes confuse The Problem of Pain with A Grief Observed, which Lewis published in 1961 after the death of his wife, Joy Davidman. The earlier book presents a systematic theological discussion; the later work is an intensely personal account of bereavement.