Suffering: A Comparison Between C.S. Lewis and Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

How does Lewis employ story to respond to suffering, and how does that compare to the book Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers?

In his book, The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis writes that “it would be better for me not to exist’ — in what sense ‘for me’? How should I, if I did not exist, profit from not existing? Our design is a less formidable one: it is only to discover how, perceiving a suffering world, and being assured, on quite different grounds, that God is good, we are to conceive that goodness and that suffering without contradiction" (p. 27).

What I take away from this quote is that Lewis believes that there is a relationship between the goodness of God and suffering.

This idea is true in his book The Magician’s Nephew. One of the main characters in the book, Digory, is experiencing suffering through the illness of his mother.

Here is a quick summary of The Magician’s Nephew:

Digory is one of the main characters of the book. He is living with his aunt and uncle because his mom is very sick. One day, he meets their neighbor Polly, and they go on an adventure discovering their house. They come across his uncle’s study and learn that he has magical rings that allow them to travel to different worlds. They travel to different worlds and meet an evil queen named Jadis. She ends up coming back to England with them, so they had to go back to her world. Then they meet a lion named Aslan, who creates the world of Narnia. Aslan sends Digory on an adventure to get an apple, and he gets tempted by the evil queen. In the end, the fruit is brought back and is used to protect Narnia. Aslan also gives Digory an apple to take back to London to save Digory’s mom from her illness.

Digory goes through the pain and suffering of having a mom that is sick. Throughout his whole journey in Narnia, he has his sick mom in the back of his mind. Even through this pain, Digory is still obedient to Aslan (the figure of God in the book) and resists the temptation to steal the fruit that could heal his mom. Because of this, Aslan ends up giving Digory an apple to heal his mom. Digory gives his mom the apple, and she is healed from her illness.

This shows us that even in the midst of our suffering, God is still faithful and is working for our good. I believe that C.S. Lewis wrote this storyline to show us that even through suffering, God is good.

Francine Rivers also highlights this idea in her book Redeeming Love through the character of Angel. Due to her life in the past, throughout the book Angel struggles with thoughts about wishing she was never born.

Below is a quick summary of Redeeming Love if you are unfamiliar with it:

Angel is the main character in the book that has faced a lot of hardship in her life. Originally named Sarah, she was born to a mom who wasn’t married and a father who wanted her aborted. While she was a child, her mom died, and she was sold into prostitution. She spent her life living in a brothel until Michael Hosea, a man who is a strong believer in Christ, rescues her and marries her. Feeling unworthy of the love Michael gives her, feeling that she owes him something, and feeling the guilt of her past, Angel runs away from Michael multiple times. Michael goes after her and accepts her with open arms each time (even when she was unfaithful to him). Because she spent most of her life in prostitution, she was fed lies about love, so she tries to avoid it at all costs. Slowly, her heart changes, and she starts to fall in love with her husband. In the end, she accepts the love of her husband and finally understands what it is like to be a child of God.

In the book, it is clear that Angel goes through a lot of hard times in her life. Before she meets Michael Hosea, she goes through a time of suffering. The suffering she has faced heavily impacts the way she views life and others. It takes Michael constantly pursuing her and showing her the love of Christ (and her running away a few times), to open her heart and realize that God loves her and will never leave her.

It is refreshing to read Angel’s story and see the goodness of God in the middle of her suffering (even when she does not realize it). God sends Michael to rescue her from her suffering, and she eventually learns to turn to God and love Him. This goes back to the idea that Lewis illustrates with the relationship between suffering and the goodness of God.

Overall, I believe that C.S. Lewis uses the relationship between a good God and suffering in his stories to portray the idea of suffering. This idea can also be applied to other authors and their stories, like Francine Rivers’ Redeeming Love.