All-forgiving kindness is unable to conquer evil, as God hates evil, it is necessary for God to make those who practice evil better. He states that divine goodness differs from usual kindness the latter does not suit God. In the next section, Lewis offers the description of the notion of divine goodness that is connected with the problem of pain. In case, if people are deprived of free will and the possibility of suffering, life will lose its sense. Finally, Lewis states that though it is at the mercy of God to “thwart harmful uses of the matter” (24), the world where wrong acts cannot be committed, would deprive people of the freedom of will. Hence the connection of the permanence of nature and frequent victories of those who are guided by unjust causes but possess material superiority.

He states that a human being should not be omnipotent since in that case it would have been impossible to distinguish one’s ideas from somebody else’s, besides, the nature of the world should also be fixed so that all people could be under equal and appropriate conditions, but the permanence of nature can also become the cause of evil and pain as in the example with wood that can be used as a beam and as a club to hit another person (Lewis 24). The first issue analyzed by Lewis pertaining to the problem of pain is the essence of omnipotence. In case if conventional definitions of the notions of “good”, “happy”, and “almighty” are considered satisfactory and suitable, it will be simply impossible to find an answer and solution to the argument (Lewis 16). The author states that it is necessary to think these terms over again as they need alteration. Religion is beyond experience.Ī necessary reservation is made by Lewis at the beginning of his book at it is necessary to tackle it as well, it concerns equivocality of the terms “good”, “almighty”, and “happy” (Lewis 16). Lewis further explains that the answer is that “spectacle of the universe as revealed by experience can never be the ground for religion” (4). He finds that the main merit of this atheist argument is its problem: “If the universe is so bad, or even half so bad, how on earth did human beings ever come to attribute it to the activity of a wise and good Creator?” (Lewis 3). Thus, he makes an impression that the information he is going to state is first-hand since Lewis uses atheist argument about the existing evil in the world. The beginning of the book is very successful and eloquent since the author starts it on a personal note saying that “not many years ago was an atheist” (Lewis 1).

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