Which 1940 book by C.S. Lewis examined the problem of human suffering?

The Problem of Pain is C.S. Lewis’s 1940 book examining human suffering. Lewis considers why pain exists if God is both good and omnipotent, making the book an example of Christian apologetics rather than a work of fiction.

The book discusses subjects including divine goodness, human freedom, sin, animal pain, hell, and heaven. Lewis argues from within a Christian theological framework and presents suffering as connected with questions of moral formation, human rebellion, and the limits of finite understanding.

The work is often confused with A Grief Observed, which Lewis wrote after Joy Davidman’s death. The two books approach suffering differently: The Problem of Pain is a systematic theological argument, while A Grief Observed is an intensely personal record of bereavement and doubt.

Lewis later acknowledged that his earlier treatment of suffering did not fully anticipate the experience of losing someone he loved. That distinction gives the two books an important place in discussions of his thought.